Diverging Timelines Book 5: Best Laid Plans
by Space-Time-Leapers
Summary: The saga continues as the Doctor, Dr. Sam Beckett, and Galadriel Thatcher travel to Australia in order to investigate the mystery of the Pi Network. What exactly is the Pi Network? How are the Master and Lothos using it to their nefarious ends? The answer may come in the form of a strange rock in the Outback, Glad's nightmares, and a distinctive pendant.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm so very sorry for the extended delay on the posting of this next book of our series. I recently had a couple of losses in my life, including my beloved mother. As a result, I've spent the last year settling her estate and coping with the great loss. However, I am back and can now finish posting the great epic story that Asearcher and I worked so hard to make for your reading pleasure. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding._

 _Julianna Calavicci (nom de plume)_

 **Chapter 1**

 _Santa Fe, New Mexico_

 _April 3, 2010_

The Master worked on his laptop, reading the latest reports from the representatives of his fledgling empire. A grin played on his face as he thought about how easy it had been once the satellites were in place. The Doctor may think these Earthlings were a brilliant species - he had said it often enough - but the Master knew otherwise. They were stupid apes, plain and simple, and now he was going to have them all under his thumb, doing his bidding. Well, all except two. As he considered that his man Reggie and the love of his life Periwinkle Langford-Saxon were simply above the level of these other humans, he noticed the door handle to the suite turning, announcing the return of his love and his assistant back from her shopping trip. Peri had insisted on going to all the stores to get what she wanted before he was allowed to destroy New Mexico as a warning to any who might still oppose him. As the door opened, he laughed when he saw Reggie struggling with all of her bags, boxes, and other purchases.

"Harry! I'm glad you're in a good mood," Peri gushed. "You can't do it. You simply can't."

"Can't do what, dearest?" he questioned, continuing to watch in amusement as poor Reggie started to unpack Peri's purchases.

"You can't destroy New Mexico, that's what," she answered, kicking her heels off. Looking into the various bags, she asked Reggie, "Do you know where those new slippers are? After all that walking my feet are killing me."

"I believe you purchased them at Goler's Fine Imported Shoes, Dr. Langford-Saxon," Reggie replied, emptying a bag from one of the shops - he couldn't remember which - from the plaza.

"Oh. Yes. That lovely, lovely store. I will have to come back when they get their next shipment in." She dug into one of the other bags, pulling out three shoe boxes before finding the one she was looking for. "Here they are," she said with an excited smile. Throwing open the box, she pulled out the brightly colored southwest patterned flats. "I love these!"

"There isn't going to _be_ a next shipment, Peri," the Master told her bluntly, listening to her doting over, in his opinion, atrociously obnoxious shoes. "Fortunate for me, if you are going to buy things like those," he added under his breath.

"But I had such fun, Harry. Even more than Rodeo Drive... or Paris. Can't I just keep New Mexico and you can find some other unimportant state to get rid of? Maybe... Arkansas. There's nothing I want to see there."

"What kind of message would I be sending to the human race by destroying Arkansas?" he replied with a grimace. "No one likes Arkansas, not even... Arkansasians."

Peri slipped on the shoes in her hand. "All right. That's a gimme. Let me think." She paused. "What about Illinois? Chicago would be a loss but the rest of the state..." she trailed off.

"No," came the firm answer. "There is a reason I chose New Mexico, Periwinkle."

"Why?" she asked petulantly.

"Well, those horrible fringes, for one thing," he complained when he saw Reggie unpack a leather jacket with copious strings of leather. "And there is the Air Force base. And HAL is fairly sure that Project Quantum Leap is somewhere in this desert and close by, from what I gathered. So..." He wiggled his right hand as if to be waving at some invisible person. "Bye bye."

Peri stopped her joyous unpacking. "But that's just not fair! I find someplace that I really enjoy and you want to take it away from me." She looked to Reggie. "Don't you agree he's being totally unfair?"

Reggie looked between the two of them, trepidation instantly reflecting in his eyes at what the consequences might be for answering favorably in either case. "Well, I..." he stated.

"Oh, leave Reginald out of this, Peri. My mind is already made up," the Master berated, putting aside his laptop. "Besides, he agrees with me. New Mexico has to go."

Peri put her hands on her hips and pulled her back straight. In that stance, she was a formidable woman, her blue eyes intensely blazing. "No, he doesn't. He doesn't think you're being fair. I don't ask for much, Harry. You know that's true. So why are you so insistent on taking New Mexico away from me?" Her lips pouted. "You just want me to suffer."

"Is that a proposition?" he queried, a wicked grin on his face.

"Only if you let me keep New Mexico," she answered defiantly.

He seemed to think about the matter for a long moment. "No."

"Yes," she responded, her heels digging in deeper.

Reggie was backing towards the door to the hotel suite, hoping to get out before this argument grew more... explosive. He'd been at this point many times and as much as he greatly respected... and feared... his employers, he knew he would come out the worse for wear. His eyes gauged the distance to the door, hope growing with each inch towards it.

The Master slowly stood from his seated position, a dark look in his eyes. "Peri... you know better than to get me angry," he warned. "And just where the hell do you think you are going, Reginald?"

At the sound of the Master's voice, Reggie couldn't help but jump slightly. "I was thinking, sir... um... that the two of you may wish refreshments. This air is so... dry here and Dr. Langford-Saxon I'm sure is famished after her excursion..." He held his voice steady as he explained his actions.

"I like the dry air," came the response.

"Of course, you do," Peri said with a little vehemence. "Dry air fills a windbag so well."

Reggie winced. When the Mrs. started throwing insults, things were about to get... heated... like in an industrial furnace or perhaps a thermonuclear blast.

The Gallifreyan, enraged by her words, marched up and slapped her across the face. "Don't you _dare_ talk to me like that, woman!"

Peri stood in front of him, her body shaking as she reached her hand up to the reddening cheek. With a very calm voice, she aimed her next request to Reggie. "You will go down to the front desk and obtain another suite for me... preferably as far away from this one as can be found."

Reggie started to obey when the Master pointed at him, fury in his eyes. "Stay right where you are, Torkinson!"

"You heard me, Reggie," Peri retorted.

"You take a step towards that door and I'll recreate what I did in that warehouse in Wales only you'll provide the room decorations!" the Time Lord countered.

"And if I have to stay another moment in... in... _his_ presence, you can be sure I'll have to use my power tools," she growled. "You've seen what I can do with a drill, Reggie."

The assistant looked between the two of them with fear in his eyes, now firmly resembling a deer caught in the headlights of a car. "I..." he started, never getting to the next word.

"You'd resort to power tools just to have this barren uncomfortable wasteland as yours? There's nothing here but the danger of that project!" the Master stated harshly.

"Yes, I would. Although the circular saw might be an interesting twist."

"You wouldn't."

"Well, you were the one threatening to turn Reggie into real Halloween decorations!"

"And why not...he's supposed to listen to me. Not you. And you called me a windbag!"

"If the word fits! All you ever seem to do is talk about your plans for universal domination," she complained. "Is it too much to ask that I have a small area of that universe for myself? So what if it's New Mexico. It's what I want!"

"I'm giving you the universe on a platter! Why would you want New Mexico?" He said the name of the state as if it were a disease.

"Because... I do." Her words were firm. "And if you really loved me, you wouldn't make me try to justify my desires."

The Master rolled his eyes at his words. "Oh, we're back on that again, are we?"

Her eyes narrowed. "We never left."

"Wrong! _You_ never left it. I've been planning the greatest conquest in all of time and space. I don't need to worry about your 'desires' at a time like this."

"Which is why," she answered, "I don't wish to remain in this suite." She turned back to Reggie. "Now are you going to get me my own suite?"

Reggie hesitantly pointed to the Master. "He's going to turn me into shark bait."

"Oh, he will not. He's just mad at me for standing up to his dictatorial edicts."

"Wrong again," the Time Lord countered. "I'm angry because I do not tolerate being insulted, especially by my own wife!"

"You think that was an insult! If you really want to know what it is to be insulted..." she started.

"No!" Reggie screamed. He turned to the Master, speaking quickly. "She doesn't mean it, sir. You know how she gets at times... says things she doesn't really mean..."

"I meant every word!" Peri responded bluntly.

Reggie turned to her, his voice increasing in speed in a desperate attempt to prevent the situation from spiraling into a murder. "No. You don't. You love him. I know you love him and you're just feeling he hasn't been paying enough attention recently."

"Shut it, Torkinson!" the Master growled. He took a dangerous step towards Peri, his dark eyes blazing.

The assistant quickly put himself in between his employers, not at all sure this was the best position to be in at the moment. "And you, sir. I've been with you almost since the two of you met. Don't you remember how devastated you were when you thought you'd lost her? Do you want to feel that way again?" He hoped against hope that the Master would heed his voice.

The Gallifreyan growled in anger, pushing Reggie out of the way to rush at Peri. Wrapping his hands around her neck, he squeezed tightly. "Why I ever married a stupid ape like you is beyond reasoning!" He watched with a hint of twisted satisfaction as she realized he wasn't going to release her and struggled to break free of his grip, gasping for air with terror in her eyes. All the while, the distinct sound of drumming encouraged him to keep going.

Reggie reached out, trying to disengage the Master's hands from Peri's neck. He could see red spots forming in her eyes and knew this was the only chance he'd have. As he found the courage to take action against his alien master, he only hoped his own death would be swift and mostly painless. "Please, sir! Don't!" he entreated, again trying to pull him away. "You're killing her! You'll never forgive yourself! It's only New Mexico, after all!"

Somehow, through the haze of fury, the voice of his faithful adjuvant seeped into the crazed Gallifreyan's mind, causing him to slightly loosen his hold on Peri's throat. The slight change in pressure allowed Reginald to finish pulling him away from the weakened woman, causing the Time Lord to fall abruptly on his backside. As the two men moved away from her, Peri's eyes rolled back into her head as she fell to the floor, the lack of oxygen having led to unconsciousness. Her neck showed the evidence of handprints on the skin, bruising quickly coloring where the pressure had been strongest.

The Master, confusion clear on his face, looked up at Reggie, not yet noticing Peri's still form. "What..." he started. His face turned towards his hands, which were shaking for some reason he couldn't recall.

Reggie looked from one to the other, praying that he had not acted too late. He left the Master's side, going to Peri's and attempting to ascertain the extent of the damage. "She didn't mean it, sir. No matter what she said. She didn't mean it."

"Mean it?" the Gallifreyan questioned, turning his head towards Reggie. Seeing Peri sprawled on the floor, he suddenly remembered the last several minutes in perfect clarity. "No," he whispered, scrambling to her side. "Peri?" Not getting a response, he quickly ran his hands over her form, checking her throat while listening desperately for signs of breathing.

Seeing that the Time Lord was no longer a danger to his wife, Reggie moved away to allow him to examine her more closely. He stood back watching, not with fear for himself but with hope that she would survive for both of their sakes.

"Oh, thank Rassilon," the Master whispered, resting his forehead against his fallen wife's. "I didn't crush her trachea. She's unconscious, that's all. Just unconscious. No permanent physical damage." He abruptly turned towards Reggie. "Why didn't you stop me?!"

Reggie blinked. "I did, sir." He paused, "But when you have a goal in mind, there's little anyone can do to completely stop you."

Hearing the assistant's words, the Gallifreyan had to concede that the man was right, especially when the constant rhythm in his mind overwhelmed rational thought. Still, at the cost of hurting the only good thing in his life... A moment later, he blinked, looking up at the only human who he might actually consider as a friend. "Did you... just grow a backbone on me?"

"I'm sure it's only temporary, sir." Reggie stated, clearly ready to back down.

The Master laughed at his statement. "In that case, I better get a new assistant because I think I like you better this way and if you are going to change back on me..."

Reggie smiled slightly. "Then I will endeavor to maintain the enhanced vertebrae around my spinal cord, sir."

Again, the Time Lord laughed before his eyes shifted to the woman lying beside his seated position. "I didn't mean to hurt her, you know. She's just... Why does she do that to me? Gets me all... discombobulated."

"Human males have been trying to figure that out for millennia," Reggie noted. "We're as clueless now as we were when we were hitting rocks together to make arrowheads."

"She makes me lose control of myself," came the response. "I _never_ lose control of myself."

Reggie's mouth opened but closed just as quickly. Backbone may be one thing but pushing the alien's buttons still wasn't a wise maneuver. Besides the idea of becoming Halloween decorations was still a picture clearly in his mind.

The Master was about to ask about the expression that had crossed the younger man's face when Peri began to cough, pulling herself back into consciousness. Her eyes started to flutter open. Immediately, the Master shifted his position, gently helping her to sit up. "You'll be fine," he told her. "Just some bruising, that's all. Well, and your eyes are a bit more unique now."

Her hand reached towards her throat, a raspy voice straining, "You wanted to kill me."

"I wasn't rational," the Gallifreyan answered, brushing down her hair with his hand. "All I could hear were the drums. I'm sorry, my precious Periwinkle." Turning to Reggie, he instructed him to bring some water for her.

"Your eyes were somewhere else." Tears started to fall. "I'm sorry, too, Harry. I love you. I have since we found you trapped in that... place. It was just... my stubbornness. It took on a life of its own. Please forgive me."

He looked at her with incredulity. "I'm the one that nearly killed you and you're apologizing? Peri... you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who should be apologizing and that's saying something since I never apologize." He pulled her closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I can never make this right."

Peri pulled her head away from his shoulder after snuggling there a moment. Looking into his eyes, she answered, "Yes, you can."

He frowned slightly at her words, wondering what she had in mind. Almost immediately, he read the stipulation in her expression and laughed slightly. "Okay. You win. Anything you want. Even New Mexico."

Peri smiled with delight at his concession.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _Australia_

 _October 2009_

After leaving the Lethbridge-Stewarts, the Doctor input the coordinates to their next destination, South Wales, Australia, early 21st century. The Time Lord had, since landing in Peru, continued to feel the continuous flux of time. It was as if time itself had spun a wheel and was awaiting the final determination of which timeline would prevail which continued to cause him great physical discomfort. He wasn't surprised, given the circumstances, that the TARDIS' flight was more erratic than usual and was actually thrilled when it eventually landed with a shaky thud.

Sam, his face mostly pale with a slightly green tinge, sighed when the time capsule finally stopped moving. "I think you need to go to TARDIS driving school."

Glad, who hadn't shown the same proclivity towards motion sickness, nodded. "That was really bad."

"Oi! I'm an excellent driver. Well... for the most part..." Seeing the look both his friends gave him, he added, "I got us here, didn't I?" He figured he didn't need to add the fact that he hadn't been sure with the constant flux if they were actually going to land. Tucking his hands into his trouser pockets he stood in front of the console, looking to assure that they had reached their planned destination. "New South Wales, Australia, Earth, 2009. I'm not sure which month at the moment." He tugged on his earlobe continuing, "But I know it's after June."

"After June, 2009?" Sam queried. "Wouldn't it be better if we landed before Alistair is taken? Maybe we could prevent that entire situation from happening." He still wasn't sure exactly what had occurred during the rescue but knew both he and the Doctor had returned from that particular 'revolution' in dire physical shape.

Glad nodded. "That would be good. Mrs. Doris would be happy with that."

"Can't do that even if I wanted to," the Gallifreyan replied. "As much as I accept that we needed to save Alistair... after all we wouldn't know about the Master and Lothos if we hadn't... doing so has fractured time significantly and I'm not willing to push that any further. Otherwise, we may not have a timeline to push."

"What do you mean that time is fractured?" Sam questioned, feeling that the alien was being stubborn again. "Like you said, we saved Alistair. This is just a changed timeline. I experience a shift from the original history after a leap all the time. That doesn't mean that time is fractured."

The Doctor paused before speaking. "Glad. Please go and get the sunscreen. The sun will be stronger here than you're used to."

Glad sighed. "You're going to be talking about things you don't want me to hear. Fine. I don't get this timeline, fractures, and original history stuff anyway." She turned with a flounce and left the room.

"She's bit testy today, isn't she?"

"I think that she's just concerned that you seem so worried," the leaper stated. "But again, I don't understand what you mean by fractured. Everything seems fine to me."

"And I told you before, Alistair's death, because it was a part of my experienced timeline in a previous incarnation, was fixed." Seeing that Sam was about to argue with him again and not wanting to get into it, he explained with some annoyance in his tone, "It's possible that the changes you've made in the past have been minor enough to only cause small rips in time... like a rock being thrown at a window. The window breaks but it can be replaced without any significant effect on the structure. Saving Alistair, though, was like hitting the same structure with a wrecking ball. It's going to take a lot to fix that damage and if the wrecking ball hits it again, everything may collapse."

Sam wasn't willing to give up his questioning, feeling that the work he'd been handed by GFTW was being dismissed. "I've changed my own timeline before. Hell, my brother wouldn't be alive now if I hadn't... and Al wouldn't be with his wife. What's so special about a friend of yours being saved?"

The Gallifreyan looked at Sam, seeing the incomprehension of the difference in magnitude. He considered that perhaps the only human that might actually understand that difference was Jack Harkness and only because he'd had immortality thrust upon him as well as having been a time agent. His voice became almost gentle. "You said it yourself, Sam. In comparison to me, your species are just children. I've lived over 900 years and through ten incarnations. In those lives in total, I've traveled to every nick and cranny of space-time and I still have so much more to explore. You've only traveled within a very small localized timeframe and even that is bounded by the sum of one human lifetime no matter how drawn out that may be. As such, the changes you've made, while they may seem huge to you, are relatively insignificant when compared to all of space-time. Brilliant, definitely but not time shattering."

Sam blinked, "You still haven't explained..."

"I'm a Time Lord," the alien stated firmly. "The Master is a Time Lord. In this situation, we're dealing with forces of time that literally can destroy the fabric of space-time, not just damage it. Because Alistair is a part of that my fixed timeline, which has now been changed, whether space-time even survives is questionable. I know this is hard for you to get your mind around, as brilliant as you are, but you have to trust me on this one. I know what I'm talking about."

The physicist quieted. He had to admit that this man who had become his friend over the past several weeks certainly had more experience in this realm. He knew him to be honest... most of the time. Furthermore, he knew he didn't have any way to truly dispute what he was being asked to accept. With a nod, he sighed. "Okay, then. I trust you. Let's go make sure that space-time survives." He went to the door and opened it. The heat of the place pushed him back in. Looking out, he exclaimed, "We're in the Outback. Why would you bring us here? I thought we were supposed to land close to the Prometheus Institute in Melbourne."

"What?!" the Doctor exclaimed, stepping towards the doors to look out. "That can't be right." Seeing the arid landscape before them, he cringed slightly. "Melbourne... Outback... They're close, right?"

"What's the Outback?" Glad questioned walking back into the room. She offered the Doctor a tube. "Here's the sunscreen."

"Did you put some on?" the Time Lord questioned.

Glad sighed slightly before obeying the implied request.

Sam gave the Doctor a jaundiced look. "No. Melbourne's on the southern coast. This looks more like the interior." He turned to Glad. "The Outback is a term for the Australian wilderness."

"Bit of a walk then," the Doctor conceded. "Perhaps we should look around though, before assuming that we're in the wrong place."

Glad had applied the sunscreen and had handed it to Sam, at his non-verbal request, before looking out into the desert-like landscape. "What are those?" she asked seeing a group of rather large jumping animals in the distance.

"Oh, oh, oh!" he exclaimed, heading out the door to get a better look, Glad following him. "Kangaroos. I've never seen them in their native habitat. Brilliant!"

Sam called from the door as he protected himself from the sun's rays. "Don't you think we should find our way to Melbourne? You know, fix space-time?"

"Oh, we will. Doesn't mean we can't enjoy watching the kangaroos first. Look at them go!"

Glad tilted her head. "Do they always hop like that? Isn't that tiring? Wouldn't it be easier to just run?"

"Haven't you ever seen a rabbit? I'm sure there were rabbits in England during Arthur's time. In fact, I had a lovely rabbit stew once during a visit to medieval England."

"Yes, we have rabbits. But I've never seen one that big before. Are you saying that a kangaroo is a type of rabbit?"

"Doctor," Sam tried again.

"Hold on just a moment," he said putting his finger up to the leaper. Continuing his explanation to Glad, he corrected. "No. Rabbits are rodents; kangaroos are marsupials. A lot of animals in Australia are marsupials."

"What's a marsupial?" Glad asked.

"Well, they are a type of mammal that has a pouch to carry things."

"You mean like a purse?" Glad said trying to put this new information into context.

"Can't we have the nature lesson another time?" Sam whined.

"This won't take long, Samuel. Are you trying to stunt her educational growth? You take the opportunities when they arrive. You never know if you'll get another chance."

"But the timeline…" he tried once more.

"Is still in flux. There's enough time to fix it."

"How do you know for sure? Glad's dream wasn't specific. It could happen anytime."

The Time Lord glared at him as Glad asked, "What do you mean my dream wasn't specific?" Her eyes grew wide. "You don't mean those nightmares I've been having. You said they were just dreams."

"Thanks, Samuel. Look at how you've scared her by popping that off. Don't you understand the concept of finesse?" He turned away from the physicist. "Galadriel, you know how I always say you're brilliant."

"I didn't mean..." Sam started. "I just..." He then let out a sigh. "You're right. Sorry."

"You say that to everyone, Doctor," Glad pointed out.

"Only to those who _are_ brilliant," the Gallifreyan corrected gently. "And with you... I just knew, the moment I met you, that you are an exceptional young woman."

"No, I'm not. I'm just a peasant girl from Camelot," she answered, tucking her head shyly.

The Doctor gently took her shoulders. "You've had feelings before that you couldn't explain, worries that have come true but you never thought anything about them. Sometimes, you've even known something was going to happen before it did."

"I'm just good at guessing. My Pa used to tell me that he wouldn't do his planting without asking what I thought the weather would be. He said I usually guessed right."

"Oh, Galadriel," the Gallifreyan replied, his voice obviously reflecting great pride in the girl before him. "You weren't guessing. You knew."

"No one can know the weather, Doctor," Glad stated firmly.

"You can. You know a lot of things." Releasing her shoulders, he put his hands behind his back. "How many fingers am I holding up and who's my favorite mystery author?"

"Four and someone named... Dame Agatha?" she said, uncertainty in her voice.

"I never mentioned Agatha Christie to you. She wasn't born until about 1300 years after you. There is no way that you could have just guessed her name."

Sam spoke up. "What he's saying, Glad, is that you're telepathic and have some psychic abilities."

She turned to Sam with a frown. "What does that mean? I don't understand."

The leaper continued, "Telepathic means that you're able to pick up on what another person is thinking. Not all of it, but enough to know certain things that would be hidden otherwise. As to psychic... I guess there are some people that just seem to know about things before they happen. The Doctor's saying you're one of those people."

"Psychic abilities stem primarily from someone who has grown up on a rift in time and space, causing them to be linked in a small way to the vortex. It's completely harmless but it is especially strong in those humans with latent telepathic abilities which are activated at childbirth," the Time Lord explained. "It isn't very common with humans." He looked into Glad's eyes. "That was how I knew you were an incredible young lady, though. I could sense your telepathic abilities. As for these psychic abilities... Well, I didn't sense them in you at the time but they're obviously there now."

Glad looked away at those words. "But the priests at the church say that those that read what is to come are witches."

"Their way of trying to explain something that they don't understand. In addition, knowing that someone knows something you don't know is frightening, especially if it has to do with events that haven't even happened yet," the Doctor told her. "Nearly got burned as a witch myself once."

A melodic male voice seemingly came from nowhere. "An excellent explanation, sir."

The three friends quickly turned towards the sound, staring at the tall black man with white paint on his body who had seemingly appeared suddenly from the other side of the blue box. Considering the rather open range of the desert-like surroundings, though, he must have been moving closer to them for some time without anyone noticing.

The Gallifreyan was the first to recover from the unexpected visitor's input into their conversation. "Hello! I'm the Doctor. And these are my friends Rose and Glad."

Looking at the trio, the newcomer stated, "Yes. I've been expecting your arrival. I saw it in the dreamtime." The man grinned and bowed. "I am Berega. I saw you would come. The kangaroo said the rock from the sky would pull you here."

"Yeah..." the Time Lord started with a slight frown. "Umm... I'm not up on Aboriginal beliefs or interpretations of dreams. What exactly do you mean?"

Laughing, the man's eyes crinkled. "My spirit guide is a kangaroo. He said you would come after the rock fell from the sky. That is all." He tilted his head. "Should there be more?"

Sam grinned. "Spirit guide? I met a man once that spoke of his spirit guide." The memory became sharp and his face turned sad. "I wasn't able to give him what he wanted. He just wanted to make it across the river to his own land one last time and I couldn't..."

"You did what you could, I'm sure," the Doctor told him gently. Scratching his head, he turned back to the native Australian. "This... rock from the sky... is that a metaphor for something?"

"Doctor..." Glad's voice murmured softly.

"Or are you talking about a real rock?" the Time Lord continued, not hearing the young woman.

The Aborigine looked at Sam first with his eyes peering deep into him. "Joseph is happy. He saw into your heart and accepts that the mother of the river took him rather than the earth woman. He thanks you." Turning to the Doctor, he pointed to a crater a distance away but still within sight. "There," he said. "That is where it fell."

The Gallifreyan regarded the Aborigine for a moment. "Latent telepathic abilities," he told himself. "Seems to be happening a lot lately around me."

"Doctor..." Glad said more loudly, trying to get his attention.

"Looks like it'll take maybe two or three hours to get there on foot. We should probably bring some water," the Doctor stated, still not noticing the young woman's attempts to get his attention.

Berega nodded to the Doctor. "Yes. I will lead you."

Sam was astounded by Berega's accuracy. "How did you know?"

The native shrugged. "The spirits live all around us. It is not hard to feel their presence if you know how to listen." Finally to the girl, he said, "Yes. The bearer of the good with the happy name. What do you wish to say, child?"

Turning at the words Berega spoke, the Time Lord realized that he had been neglecting Glad. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Galadriel. Please..." He nodded in agreement of the Australian's words.

"Umm..." she started, suddenly feeling as if she were in the spotlight. "It's just that... well... my pendant..."

Sam looked at the Eye. "The obsidian looks brighter, sharper."

The Time Lord pulled out his glasses, slipping them over his eyes. "You're right. It is," he confirmed, raising the pendant from Glad's chest to get a closer look at it. Taking the glasses off, he shook his head slightly. "I can't see what exactly is causing it to brighten the way it did." He pointed to the sky. "Maybe it's this sun... being on the other side of the equator..."

Berega smiled broadly. "The kangaroo says your ancestors would know the source." He nodded at the sky. "If we wish to make it there and back before darkness comes, you will need to start soon."

The Doctor blinked for a moment, trying to understand what Berega's words meant but his thoughts were disrupted by Sam's voice.

"I'll get some canteens," the leaper said. When the physicist returned a few minutes later, he gave a canteen to both the Doctor and Glad, the former tucking the object into a pocket in his suit. He also brought out hats for the three of them. Noting the Doctor's rejection of the headwear, he tosses the Gallifreyan's back into the TARDIS before closing the door.

"So... Berega..." the Time Lord started, rolling the 'R' in the native's name. "After you."

Over the next few hours, the group made their way to the crater. The Doctor crouched down at the rim of the terrestrial indentation, staring towards the center while Sam examined the interior and took soil samples, finding nothing else that seemed of interest. During their investigation, Berega regaled Glad with stories of his people's legends. When the native was asked how long ago the crater had appeared and what had become of the object that had caused it, he had no answers to give. After about three hours, Berega stood and walked towards the scientists. "Doctors. It is time to return to the blue cave."

The Doctor didn't seem to hear Berega's words, his eyes focused on the crater. It took a light touch on his shoulder for him to turn his head away, looking up at Sam with surprise. "What is it?"

"Berega says it's time to head back." He noticed the Doctor's focus. "Have you found something?"

The Time Lord didn't answer for a moment before shaking his head. "No." He stood up, straightening his jacket as he did so. "No, nothing here."

Sam nodded and started down to where Berega was waiting with Glad. "I didn't find much but I can say that it was likely a meteorite that fell." He pulled out a small sliver of metal in a vial. "I think this must have sheared off of whatever landed here."

The Doctor followed, easily catching up with him. He held out his hand expectantly while requesting, "May I see that?" Receiving the vial, he turned it in his hand, the odd look that he'd had during the entire time in the crater returning to his eyes.

As they approached the native and the girl, Sam grinned. "So, Glad, I noticed you and Berega talking. What have you been learning about?" He was happy that Glad was not afraid of the man but rather seemed calm around him.

"Australia's a really interesting place," Glad told him with a wide grin. "Berega told me all sorts of stories about magic and spirits. I'd love to hear more!" She turned towards the Doctor and frowned almost immediately. "Something's wrong. I can tell." Going to the Gallifreyan, she touched his arm. "Doctor?"

The latter blinked for a moment, his eyes still on the sliver of metal. "Umm... I'm not sure," he admitted. "Something very old. Very familiar. But I can't put my finger on it."

Sam took the vial and brought it closer to Glad's pendant noting that the glow of the pendant and the sliver seemed to increase as they were moved into proximity to each other. "Strange," he said, his curiosity piqued.

"They're polar opposites," the Gallifreyan stated with a hint of surprise.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "I think we better get back so we can examine that sliver better. Find out what it is." Arriving back at the place Berega had termed 'the blue cave' - although there was no way he could really have known what was inside - Sam asked if anyone was hungry.

"I'm starved!" Glad told him emphatically. "I only had bannocks today and lots of water. Speaking of which..." She hurried into the TARDIS, running down the hall.

Sam grinned before turning to the Aborigine. "What about you, Berega? Would you like something to eat?"

The Australian gave a faraway smile. "It is not time. I will watch over." With that the man turned and made his way to a rock overlooking the area where the TARDIS had landed. Climbing up, he stood as a sentinel. For what, Sam had no idea. Shaking his head at the antics of the native, the leaper turned to the Doctor. "Food? Or are you going to get all metaphysical too?"

"Metaphysical about food?" the Doctor questioned. "There is very little that is metaphysical about food, Sam. That is unless you're a Lehina. Then food can be extremely metaphysical."

"No... I..." Sam started. "Oh, just forget it." He nodded to the TARDIS door. "After you?"

The Time Lord frowned at him for a moment before finally realizing what all the talk was about. "Oh, dinner! Absolutely! Not very hungry myself but can't let you two going on with empty stomachs."

Once inside, the leaper busied himself in the kitchen, Glad joining him after her quick pit stop. The two had grilled cheese sandwiches and potato chips with milk to wash it down. Afterward, Sam told Glad he was going to go help the Doctor in the lab. He asked what she was going to do.

"I don't know. I thought maybe I'd go to the library and look at the books there. Practice my reading?" she added, looking towards the Doctor for approval and gaining a grin and a nod.

The three went off to their planned activities. Having taken the sliver out of the vial, the two scientists conferred on the best way to study the small piece of metal.

The Doctor had already pulled out his glasses, looking at the sliver with a frown. "It certainly isn't any metal I recognize." Picking it up, he touched it to his tongue, grimacing slightly at the taste. "Definitely not terrestrial. But then, that's fairly obvious given that it probably came from Berega's 'rock from the sky.'" Putting the sliver back on the table, he turned his head towards his friend. "Spectrometer?"

"Sure. But if it's not terrestrial, none of the libraries would be able to recognize it, would they?"

"You forget where you are, Sam. This is the TARDIS. My spectrometer's libraries are far more extensive than anything on Earth. Believe me, if we can't identify it here, we'd have to go to the Library." Seeing the confusion on Sam's face, he clarified. "Largest library in the universe. The size of a planet. The Science wing has a spectrometer whose libraries can literally identify anything."

"Size of a planet?" the physicist questioned with surprise.

"Yup," the Time Lord replied, emphasizing the 'p.' "But I doubt we have to go clear across the universe and into a different time all together to identify this bad boy." He looked at the sliver once again, taking off his glasses as he did so. "That little piece of metal makes the hairs on the back of my hand stand up. And that's saying something."

The human scientist looked at the Doctor's hand and found what he was saying was physically true. "What do you think it is?"

"Something very old, very familiar, and very dangerous," he answered, sitting in a chair next to Sam. He raised his hand to scratch the back of his head.

"That doesn't help."

"No... it doesn't," the Gallifreyan agreed. "But I look at that and everything in my guts tells me it shouldn't be here. It shouldn't even exist. And yet... there it is. So, I say we run it through the spectrometer and see what we get." Reaching over, he took the sliver again, standing as he did so. Walking over to the scientific instrument, he then ran the test, causing a brilliant white light to flood the room. "Whoa!" the Time Lord exclaimed, quickly shutting off the instrument to avoid him and Sam being blinded.

"You can say that again. I've never seen anything act like that before."

The Doctor picked up the sliver carefully. "I have," he said somberly. "Once. A long time ago. Sixty-two years old, still just a child, in chemistry class. But it was a presentation of a theory on how a material from a negative universe might react to a positive universe, provided that there wasn't a sudden and catastrophic implosion from matter and anti-matter touching."

"You're saying this is from another universe?"

"I'm saying it's from a _negative_ universe. That's why it feels wrong to me. It shouldn't even exist in our universe. In fact, the millisecond it came into our universe, it should have wiped out all of creation. But it's here and we're here... and that's impossible."

Considering what the Doctor was saying, the physicist replied, "You're right. That's not possible. It couldn't be a meteorite. At least, it shouldn't be a meteorite."

"Somehow, it's been stabilized for this universe," the Doctor told him, dropping the sliver back in its vial. "Which is only possible if someone or something realigned its molecular structure to allow it to exist in our reality."

"Would the Master be able to do that?"

The alien shook his head. "Too complicated a process. The only person I know of who had been able to do that was Omega and he's been dead for several centuries."

"Then how do we explain this?" Turning to look at the Time Lord, Sam noticed that he seemed focused on the sliver in the vial. "Doctor?" he pressed.

"Can't be," the latter murmured. He shook the sliver in the vial for a moment before marching quickly to an alien instrument and scanning it. "It is!"

"What?"

"It's a black hole! A negative black hole, mind you. Actually, it's the nucleus of a negative black hole, to be more precise."

"It can't be."

"Ah, but it is. It has very similar properties to the Eye of Harmony with one major exception. It's the exact polar opposite of the Eye. Which means..." He turned towards the door. "Glad is wearing a piece of the Eye of Harmony. But how?"

The leaper wasn't sure what this Eye of Harmony was, but he did know something about black holes. He asked, incredulous, "You're telling me that Glad's wearing the nucleus of a black hole?"

"No, she's wearing a very small piece of a nucleus of a very specific black hole," the Doctor corrected him. "One that doesn't exist anymore, for that matter," he added, his eyes softening slightly at his own words. "Certainly explains everything I've ever felt with that pendant around me."

"You sound like this has some deeper meaning," commented Sam, watching the Doctor closely.

The Time Lord turned his attention to the younger man at his words. "Oh, yes. It means Omega made it. Which means... it's of Time Lord origin." He frowned a moment later, his eyes growing concerned as he considered all the information he had collected over the last several weeks, starting with Merlin and the odd experience in his TARDIS and ending with the discovery that there was a negative Eye - a Black Eye, if you would - somewhere on Earth, coupled with the Master's Pi Network, which was already taking seed in Lima, Peru. There had to be an explanation that connected all the seemingly different incidents together. Without saying anything to Sam, he turned and left the lab, heading down the corridor at a quick pace.

Sam got up as well, figuring that something must be on the Gallifreyan's mind for him to make such a sudden change. He had gotten used to the sudden mercurial changes in the alien's behavior. Following the Time Lord out of the room, he asked, "What is it, Doctor?"

The Doctor could feel Sam following him but he ignored the scientist and entered the library, slowing when he noticed Glad on one of the couches. The girl had obviously picked out a book and was reading it when she discovered she was more tired than she had thought and had fallen asleep. It was equally noticeable that she was currently in the middle of a bad dream. Going over to her, he gently brushed her hair and swallowed down the urge to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Glad. I'm so sorry. But I have to see what you're seeing," he murmured to her before placing his hands on either side of her face and closing his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Doctor's eyes snapped open, his breathing erratic, his eyes glazed over. While he knew the murder of Rose Tyler had been only in Glad's nightmare, he still felt the horror. So enraptured by the latent images that refused to leave him, he was unaware of the screaming and shouting around him. He felt hands on him that quickly left. Someone was shouting his name and then Glad's. He wasn't sure what it was about. At the moment, the only thing he knew was that he had just lost the woman who came closest to being a soul mate to him than he'd had for several lifetimes.

Glad, released from the Doctor's steady mental support, awoke as well. "They murdered her! How could you let them? It was as if a band of evil knights all brandished their swords and cut her to pieces." Tears fell from her eyes as she shook from the vision.

Sam had watched as the Doctor had put his hands onto either side of Glad's head and seemingly entered a trance. At first, he had watched unsure of what to do. He saw that both of his friends were distraught, tears running from their eyes, faces contorted in pain. At one point, he'd started to reach out to the Doctor to try to get his attention, but the TARDIS told him through his mind that he should simply wait until whatever was transpiring was complete. He had started to pace, his nervous energy spurring him to do something but knowing there was nothing, at present, he could do. When the situation broke, it was as if a logjam had been freed, a terrible release that was surreal in its nature. The Doctor still appeared to be separated from reality as Sam called his name and tried to shake him to bring him out of whatever had captured his attention. It was only the terrified screaming of Glad that turned him away from the Doctor. "Glad! It was just a dream. No one's been murdered." he said as he moved to her and tried to calm her fears, holding her in a brotherly embrace, his hand rubbing her back soothingly.

"I killed her," the Time Lord whispered shakily. "Oh, god... I killed her." He curled slightly into himself, wanting to deny the truth of what he'd seen. He loathed the depths that the Master had sunk to but equally loathed himself, feeling that, should Glad's prophetic dream come to pass, he would indeed choose to watch Rose murdered so brutally rather than submit to the demands of his nemesis and his wife. He was pulled back to reality as Glad's moans of horror continued. Forcing himself to focus, he stood shakily from where he had dropped to the floor, going to Glad who was still in Sam's arms. "Glad. It wasn't real. None of it was real," he stated as if trying to convince himself as well as her. "At least it's not real yet. It doesn't have to be."

Glad heard the Doctor's voice and pulled away from Sam. "But it felt real. Seeing all that death and horror and them taking you away. And I don't understand. You called her Rose... and somehow that man was Sam. Is that what they really look like? Without their pitchers?"

The Doctor just nodded at her question before slowly sitting on a nearby chair, rubbing his face with his hands. "It felt real for me too," he admitted to her. "But it hasn't happened. None of it. We're going to make sure that it doesn't."

"How?" she cried in anguish. "How can you stop someone like that? Why does he... do that and why does she?"

He shook his head slightly. "Her... I don't know. Him... Well... He always thought he should own the universe. But we'll stop him. Somehow."

"But it was so wrong!" She shook her head as if trying to remove the vision.

"I know," came the quiet reply.

"But I don't," Sam put in with a frown, still greatly confused over what he had just witnessed. "What happened?"

"I think Glad should try to get some sleep," the Time Lord put in, standing once again without answering Sam's question.

"But..." Sam stopped when he saw the look on the Gallifreyan's face. "You're right. Sleep will be good."

"But I don't want to go to sleep," she cried out in fear. "What if the dreams come back?"

The Gallifreyan gave her a gentle smile before opening his arms to her. "Come here," he beckoned. When she had obeyed, leaving Sam's arms for the Doctor's, he gently brushed her hair. "It's okay, my dear. They won't come back tonight. I promise. And you do need your sleep. I'll meet you in the console room, Sam. I'm just going to take Glad to her room." He helped her onto her feet and guided her out of the library, telling her simply, "Trust me."

"Okay," she answered, allowing him to escort to her bedroom.

Once there, he helped her into the bed. "Close your eyes," he whispered to her, "and have pleasant dreams tonight." Using his unique skills as a Time Lord, he found the receptors in her mind that would ensure that his wishes for her rest would become reality. When he was certain that she was asleep, he gently caressed her sleeping face before shakily standing. He left the room and found his way to the heart of the TARDIS. "She'll be fine for a few hours," he told the leaper. "Enough time to get a good rest."

"She looks like she needs it." He paused. "You look like you could use some rest as well. What happened?" the physicist repeated his question from earlier.

"A _drink_ is what I could use," the alien corrected the physicist's words. He exhaled slowly. "I thought I'd lost her," he whispered. "I thought..." He looked at Sam for a long moment, his eyes showing that a part of him was still elsewhere. "Oh, Rose... Sam... I'm so sorry."

"I don't understand."

"The world is going to end..." the Gallifreyan told him softly. "And you are going to be the first casualty."

"What?" Sam responded, his eyes widening. "You're talking crazy."

"Oh, I wish I were. Believe me, I would rather I were completely nutters than for it to come. But it's coming. And..."

Sam took the Doctor by the shoulders, looking into his eyes to direct his focus. "What did you _see_?"

The Time Lord, while grateful for Sam's intervention, gently shrugged off Sam's grip. He needed to be able to pace to make sure that he could express his thoughts clearly. "Her dream had three parts, one after the other, all showing a progression of grim futures. In the first, the Master forcibly brought you back to your project, killing you in the process. He then set Jack up for an eternity of torture before killing Albert for protesting." He didn't tell Sam about how the Master was able to infiltrate PQL, thanks to his best friend's betrayal. Very few humans could resist the onslaught of the Master's telepathic abilities if they didn't have psychic training. Even in his current pain he, like his nemesis, was impressed that the Italian man had eventually fought off the mind control, albeit too late.

Sam had quietly listened to his and his friend's fates. What he heard naturally bothered him greatly and the pain in his eyes was deep. "Lothos hates me and my project. Since I found out about him, I've known that if he ever had the chance, he'd remove me from time itself. I guess with the Master and Lothos being partners, if this happens, it'll be the Master who will do that. I just wish Jack and Al wouldn't have to suffer because of me."

The Gallifreyan didn't respond to Sam's words, knowing that anything he said to reassure him of his lack of culpability wouldn't be taken well. Instead, he resumed his explanation of the dream. "In the second part, Glad and I were running from the Master's soldiers. Some time soon in the future, based on Glad's age. They were going to capture us and I made Glad hide to keep her safe. They captured me, however, and I was taken to the Master." He looked down. "At least I know that Glad will be safe." He took a deep breath and then pushed on. "The third part... I'm sorry, Sam, but as horrid as it was to see you and Al killed and Jack suffering... the third part was the worst for me..." He swallowed tightly, his hearts tightening as he recalled the horrific images. "The Master wanted me to help him build a Time Lord empire. I refused so he tried to use... leverage on me."

"Leverage? What could he use?"

"He... he used Rose." He knew there were others before since Tegan Jovanka had been spoken of in the nightmare but he wasn't witness to what happened to her.

"What happened? What did he do to her?"

"He actually had used a few others of my companions from what I could tell," the Time Lord said, avoiding answering the question even with the knowledge that Sam wasn't going to allow him to evade it for long. "We mentioned Tegan. I traveled with her... oh, a long time ago. My fifth life." Feeling Sam's eyes on him, he knew the leaper was silently pressing him to finish conveying what he'd seen. "The Master ordered someone he called HAL to kill her. She... There was a male disembodied voice. I think it was probably your Lothos. He..." The Gallifreyan swallowed and then sniffed before finishing. "I allowed him to slice her to pieces with a laser and I did nothing to stop it." He gave a small, mirthless laugh. "All I had to do was build the damn Senarkan stylecannons or hand over the TARDIS and she would have lived. The universe would have fallen to a madman, but she would have lived." For a moment, he couldn't help but think about the last time he was forced to make such a decision. He didn't like his decision then either, though. The universe was a little less beautiful without Gallifrey in the heavens.

Sam put his hand out and placed it on the Doctor's shoulder, his face mirroring the horror as he tried to empathize with the Time Lord. "No one should ever be forced to choose between such evils."

The Doctor again rejected the leaper's touch. "Sam, I know you want to help but right now I just need to find a way to... cope with all of this." He started for the exterior door. "I need some fresh air." Noting that Sam started to follow, he emphasized, "Alone."

Sam stopped. "Doctor... it was just a nightmare. It doesn't mean it will come true."

The Gallifreyan turned to look at him, sadness in his eyes. "Maybe. But I'll be damned if I know how to prevent it from happening." Then, without another word, he stepped out of the time ship, walking aimlessly under a blanket of stars as he thought intensely on what the dream was predicting.

He'd walked for a good five minutes when, from out of the shadows, Berega appeared. "You are troubled, Time Father."

The Gallifreyan jumped slightly at the voice, looking up abruptly. He calmed when he noticed the Aborigine walking towards him. "Oh. Berega. You startled me. Which is saying something."

"Your thoughts are far away, along a path that worries you."

He gave a weak smile of acknowledgement of the observation. "Possible futures are always worrisome, especially the one I saw." Finding a boulder, he rested himself on it.

"The dream times are only shadows to come. The Time Mother that gave the Joy child her eye knew that."

"Joy child?" the Time Lord questioned. His eyes widened slightly as he realized the reference. "Oh. Glad." He gave a smile. "Cute, that."

The Aborigine smiled. "She wears the key, but you mustn't allow the seeking mist to take it."

"Glad's necklace is the key," the Gallifreyan stated for clarification.

"Yes. The Time Mother created it to be used. But first the Eternal Man must set the journey along a different path."

"Merlin's grandmother created Glad's pendant to be used as a weapon," the Doctor concluded to himself. He frowned at the thought. "How do we set the journey along a different path?"

"The Eternal Man may reset the course of the dream time."

"Eternal Man..." the alien repeated, pondering on the words for a moment. "So you are saying that I can change what Glad and I just saw in the dreamtime but you don't know how."

"Perhaps you can, but I am speaking of another," Berega responded with a wise smile.

"Really? Huh. That's the problem with interpreting the words of a clairvoyant. Sometimes there are more questions than answers." He sighed. "The vision certainly turned everything upside down for me. I suppose it has for Sam as well. I know from experience that it's never easy to hear you and the people close to you will die if you can't fix the situation."

The native Australian smiled. "The man-woman walks a path that could lead to his last dream. Yet he ignores that truth so he can to take away the sting that would have been. He wants you to find your sure footing again."

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't make ignoring his pain right."

"The Time Father's hearts are torn by the loss of the flower in the dream time. I cry sad songs for you."

The Gallifreyan stared into the moonlit sky, his brown eyes suddenly seeming so lost. "They're going to be... if we don't stop him. I'm going to lose everyone I've ever cared for. He'll scavenge all of eternity for my friends just to break me. I just know it." He could still see his Rose - his "flower" as Berega put it - in his mind. Brave Rose, knowing that she was going to die at the Master's hands if the Doctor submitted to him... and being so willing to give her life for the sake of the universe. He couldn't let it happen.

"The evil ones may be stopped. You must think as they would to do so. It will be hard for you to let your mind go to such an outcropping but you must." The sound of a didgeridoo wafted through the night. "I must go. It is time for you to do what you shall do."

"Already? But we only just met," the Doctor told him, standing up. "Hate for you to just leave. Besides, Glad would be so disappointed if you left without a goodbye. She really took a fancy to you. Clairvoyants unite, or something like that."

"The child needs you now, not me," the Aborigine told him. "But you know time goes in circles, touching on the string many times. Our times will touch again. I wish you good journeys with your companions." With his words said, he turned and went back into the bush from whence he came.

"Good journeys to you, Berega," the Gallifreyan replied gently, giving a slight smile. He waited until he was out of sight before turning towards the TARDIS. He gazed at his long-time friend with affection before walking towards her and entering, his mind thinking about all that had happened in the last few hours but he felt renewed hope after the strange conversation.

DWQLTWDWQLTW

 _Somewhere in eastern New Mexico_

 _April 3, 2010_

The group of travelers had made it though the heartland of America as much as possible keeping to the side roads and avoiding crowds. The few times they heard anything from the world at large, it appeared that life as they'd known it was quickly shifting toward a worldwide lovefest with Harold Saxon as its focus. As they drew ever closer to their destination, Jack had grown introspective and quiet. Paul, Grace, and Rose had been trading tales of lives, the people that meant the most to them and what this change was likely to do to that world.

Naturally that conversation had led to Grace and Rose sharing their stories about a certain time traveler. Paul was interested and peppered the two women with questions about the differences in their "Doctors." As it became obvious from Rose's side of the story that Jack had also been involved, Paul casually tried to bring the man next to him into the conversation. "You going to sleep all day or are you going to add your two cents?" the Iowan asked.

"They're doing just fine without me," Jack told him with disinterest. "And I'm not sleeping. I'm thinking."

"You better spill those thoughts then, Harkness," Grace added. "Seems to me when you get quiet like this, it means there's something brewing." When he gave her a look that indicated that the entire trip was pointing to that inevitability, she continued, "...more than what you've told us so far. Tell us, how do know what's going to go down at this project?"

Jack took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "In June of last year, I received a coded email from a former high-ranking member of UNIT. He said he'd been kidnapped by order of someone who was likely associated with an organization he'd been researching. This organization, based in Australia, appeared to have ties with some rather questionable investments and technologies that might have alien connections."

"So, why send this information to you?" Rose questioned. "If he used to work for UNIT, why didn't he just send it to them? I'm sure they could have investigated it."

"Because he wasn't sure that he could trust his contacts in UNIT. Something to do with having his loyalties questioned after helping some civilians onto a base. And he needed someone that could actually look into this situation without bringing on the Charge of the Light Brigade. UNIT's good at a lot of things but being subtle isn't exactly their strong suit."

"No," Grace agreed. "We do seem to enjoy our pomp and circumstance."

"Coincidentally," Jack continued, "some of our records indicate that Torchwood's missing branch was very likely located in Australia. So, I figured that I would kill two birds with one stone and not only check on this organization for my friend but also see if I could find some evidence on the possible location of the missing base."

"Torchwood has more than two bases?" Rose questioned with a frown. "I thought the one in London was enough."

"The one in London was overzealous in their application, Rose. There were some good people who worked there that found out the hard way that overzealousness can be a recipe for disaster."

"I know. Just makes me wonder how many more Torchwoods there are out there other than yours."

Paul frowned at the diverted explanation. "What's Torchwood?"

"Depends on who you ask," Jack stated. "But that's not really important at the moment. What is important is what I learned when I got to Australia."

"Okay. Australia then. Tell us about that," the driver encouraged.

"Well, like I said, it was about six months ago. The jet lag was brutal and I was glad when we finally touched down in Melbourne..." The story continued, keeping the group in rapt attentiveness to the Captain's words.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _Melbourne, Australia_

 _October 2009_

Rubbing his neck, Jack stretched, trying to get rid of the kinks in his back that were the result of a traveling over thirty hours on a plane. After receiving the email from retired Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, the Torchwood leader had decided to come to Australia to look into the Prometheus Institute. When he announced to his team that he was taking a week to investigate some strange activity in Melbourne – without telling them anything about what he was investigating – Ianto had suggested that Jack's focus should remain at Torchwood Cardiff, not gallivanting on a wild hair to the land down under. Tosh had quietly stated that if Jack felt he had to go, then perhaps it was just something he had to get out of his system. Owen had backed her up. Jack had appreciated their support. He really didn't want to get into the reasons why he knew he had to go. He'd made the flight out of Wales a little over fifteen hours after he'd received the email and the flight had given him a lot of time to think. He was glad he didn't have an accidental loquacious companion which seemed to be his bane on long flights. This time, the man next to him seemed much more interested in finishing the latest bestselling mystery. Jack had taken the time to review memories which appeared to be intimately linked with the organization he was going to investigate.

As he once again read the email describing the CEO of that organization and his wife, the strange and disturbing murders from a few years before came back to his memories, haunting him. Peri Saxon nee Langford had been at the crux of that situation and now her name was coming up in connection with the information his friend had sent him. He had wanted to solve the murders that happened in Cardiff and, based on the DNA and other evidence found at the crime scenes, had understood the perpetrator must be a Time Lord. He also knew that only one being could fit those facts. Yet something inside had prevented Jack from believing that the Doctor had committed such horrible atrocities, despite the evidence. He'd told himself many times it was the new duties taking on Project Quantum Leap, the personnel changes at Torchwood, and any other number of excuses but he knew the real reason. He was terrified of what he would find if he came face to face with the Doctor only to find that he was indeed insane. And yet something told him he was finally going to renew his acquaintance with the one being in the universe that he both loved and feared as no other.

Arriving in Melbourne, he went to collect his bag, scanning the newsfeed on the screen next to the carousel. _"_ University Fails to Wrest 'Black Rock' from Harold Saxon" scrolled across the screen. "Black rock?" he questioned aloud.

"The meteorite," came a male Australian voice from his left.

"Meteorite? Why would that make the news? Must have been a big one if a University is interested."

The fellow airline traveler gave a little laugh. "You Yanks just don't hear much about the rest of the world, do ya? The meteorite," he repeated as if it were extremely important. "You'd think it was supposed to be the greatest find since the Rosetta Stone based on how this female professor at the University of Melbourne's been acting."

"University types tend to think that way when there's some sort of scientific find," Jack commented. "Saxon's the head of the Prometheus Institute, isn't he? Why would he be fighting to keep some space debris that's been flying through the solar system for a few millennia? I'd think he has more important things to do, based on all this talk about the Pi Network they're working on."

"What Mr. Saxon wants, Mr. Saxon gets, Mr... You know, mate? I didn't catch your name. Mine's Frank Whitehurst, by the by."

"Captain Jack Harkness," replied the tall man with a brilliant smile, putting his hand out.

"Well, Captain Harkness... if I were you, I'd watch how you talk about Harold Saxon. Fair warning." It was clear that the other man was not pleased with Jack's line of inquiry.

Not at all sure what had brought on the change in attitude, Jack splayed his hands to show his preference to keep things on a friendly note. "Sorry. I was just thinking that a busy man like him might not have time to spend on hobbies." His mind was beginning to wonder if this "rock" might be yet another clue in his strange quest. Maybe the meteorite had some kind of effect on certain aliens. Sort of like Kryptonite on Superman. At least that might explain the Doctor's trip into insanity.

"Bloody right, he doesn't," answered Frank. "And that meteorite is no hobby either. He had people looking at that thing, figuring out how it can be used to save this world. He's a good man, Harold Saxon. You mark my words."

"Okay. I'm sure he is." The 51st century man was picking up vibes that didn't sit well with him. Until he knew more, it would likely be best to just play to that vibe. "And I'd like to let the professor know that perhaps she should leave such finds to the people best able to use them. What did you say her name was?"

"I didn't. But, from what I recall, it's Hawthorne. Dr. Margaret Hawthorne. Weird one, she is. Not the full quid, if you ask me. Luddite, I think. Don't think she even owns a phone."

"Imagine that," he said non-committedly. Spying his bag which had finally come up out of the depths of the baggage system, the ex-Time Agent retrieved it. "Well, thanks, Frank, for setting me straight. Have a nice day."

Frank smiled. "No worries, mate. You've just come a long way and didn't know how ripper Harold Saxon is."

"Yeah. Good day." Jack finished, heading off to find a vehicle, now that he knew where to go. "Dr. Margaret Hawthorne, huh," he said to himself to try the name on his tongue. It was definitely a start. After obtaining transportation, he made his way to the University of Melbourne. He noticed that the people of the city appeared even more enamored with Harold Saxon. Well, from what he'd read, the Prometheus Institute had done a lot of good things for the large island nation. He guessed he couldn't blame them. Still it seemed that this was becoming an obsession and he still didn't understand why.

Arriving at the University, he located and found Dr. Hawthorne's office, knocking on it in the hopes of receiving an answer. Not obtaining one, he located and found a seat near the professor's door, allowing himself to close his eyes while he waited. About forty-five minutes later, a rattle of keys caused Jack to open his eyes. He tilted his head as he took her in with a glance. She certainly fit the role of a nutty professor, her auburn hair tightly pulled into a casual bun, clothes somewhat disheveled. He was about to introduce himself when she spoke first.

"Never seen you in any of my classes," she told him as she unlocked the door beside him.

"I'm not in your class..." Jack started. There was an air about her that intrigued the omni-sexual. Her clear complexion and blue eyes told him she probably cleaned up very nice. He would have allowed himself the pleasure of trying to seduce her, but for the moment he was on a mission. Maybe later.

"Then I would greatly appreciate if you didn't use my waiting chairs for your little nap," the woman replied, turning to face him in the doorway of her office. "If you want a nap, the student center has plenty of couches. Goodbye." She moved to close the door behind her.

Jack jumped up and put his foot in the door to prevent its closing. "Do I _look_ like a student?" This time he prevented her from saying anything. "Professor Hawthorne, I'm here about the black rock. I think you might be onto something. I want to see it in the right hands. It needs to be properly examined."

"You're about a year too late, Mr..."

Once more, the tall man smiled his brightest, putting out his hand. "Harkness. Captain Jack Harkness at your service."

Margaret Hawthorne looked at the outstretched hand for a moment as she rubbed the back of her neck, not wanting to raise her eyes to meet his - those blue eyes really were... spectacular - and a little unsure about his motivations. "Well... Captain Harkness," she finally said, taking the pro-offered hand. "Not that I trust you but why don't you come in and we can talk. I only have fifteen minutes, though."

"Have another class?" Jack asked, following her in.

"I'm giving you fifteen minutes, sir. What I do after that is frankly none of your business."

"Right," Jack answered. He was already realizing this was going to be one of those love/hate type of relationships which meant he would most likely bed her at some point. He filed that little tidbit away as he started to utilize his fifteen minutes to entice her to join him in his search for more information. "From what I gather, Harold Saxon all but stole that meteorite out of your hands. I believe it may have some unique properties."

"You're telling me," she huffed. "Never seen anything like it before. It came down in one large piece, though there were naturally fragments around the crater. It had the most unusual glow to it, practically sparkled under direct sunlight. But the most intriguing part was its energy signature."

"It had an energy signature?" The head of Torchwood Cardiff was intrigued. "Like, radioactivity?"

"Very weak radioactivity, not enough to really be considered radioactive, but I don't think that could account for the energy or at least all of it. From what I could tell, it was also denser than any meteorite I'd ever encountered."

"Then what kind of energy..."

"If Harold Saxon hadn't just snatched it away like he was picking up a football off of a field, I'd be able to tell you that, Captain," Hawthorne told him with a glare. "I was lucky to get the information I did gather."

Jack bit back his retort, thinking this was definitely heading towards love/hate. It certainly wouldn't get her on his side to allow his annoyance to come through. He took a breath. "Of course. I was just fascinated by your description. You say there were fragments in the crater? Think they might still be there?"

"Probably," she replied. "But good luck getting close to the crater. Saxon has made it clear he considers anyone on that land to be trespassers and subject to arrest. He even went so far as to collect any and all fragments previously collected, which is why I've been desperately trying to get a look at that meteorite for the last year. I mean, seriously. How proprietary can you get?"

"The more I hear about Saxon, the more I don't like him." Jack stood up. "I'm not afraid of the trespassing. I've got to get a look at the crater and search for fragments." As if a sudden thought had come to him, he stated, "It would be much easier to find the crater with your help since you've actually been there."

Slowly, Margaret stood as well. "You don't like Saxon?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"He sounds like an arrogant ass."

Almost as if his words had turned on a light bulb, Dr. Hawthorne rushed around her desk, grabbing a slightly worn light brown leather jacket and pulling it on. "You coming, Captain?"

With a smile coupled with raised eyebrows, Jack nodded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Over the next few hours, the two made their way back to the crater. Jack hired a pilot to take them to Kalgera in the Australian Outback, known as the bush to the locals. From there, they rented a Land Cruiser which Hawthorne insisted she drive since she knew the terrain in her country. As Jack and Margaret travelled through the Australian wilderness, they fell into amicable conversation. After a few hours, however, the conversation lulled and, given that the University professor refused to turn on the radio, Jack decided to try to at least get an idea of the lay of the land in the bright moonlight.

"STOP!" he suddenly ordered.

"What?" Hawthorne questioned with a frown. "Why? The crater's just ahead. We still have a couple more miles to go before..."

"No! Now," Jack said again, continuing to stare at the blue police box he couldn't believe he saw on the small rise to his right.

"But we're almost there..." she started before following Jack's eyes to the strange object in the middle of nowhere. "What the hell?" she exclaimed, stopping the SUV. "Is that...?" She didn't get an answer. Instead, she saw Jack jumping out of the vehicle before it was at a complete stop and running towards the object at full speed. "HEY!" she called to him.

"Just wait for me!" Jack called back as he continued onwards towards his goal. It had been all he'd wanted to find for the last one hundred forty plus years. That search had taken another ominous significance when the murders in Cardiff had occurred. Now he was going to get some answers and some type of resolution. He continued to hope that the closure wouldn't totally destroy his faith in the man but he was fearful that would be the result of this encounter. Arriving at the box, he pounded on the door with balled fists. "Let me in now!" he demanded.

When the Doctor had stepped into the TARDIS after his talk with Berega, he found that Sam had left the console room, apparently needing some time for himself after the revelations he'd been given. The Gallifreyan was just beginning to look for the leaper, hoping to give him some comfort like he had received from the Aborigine, when the pounding echoed through the TARDIS.

"What now?" he questioned. "Did Berega forget something?" He made his way back to the console room, wincing at the sound of a hand banging against wood. Frowning at the vehemence of the disruption, he went to the door and pulled it open. "Oi! People are trying to sleep in..." His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. "Jack? What are you doing here?"

"What am _I_ doing here? What am _I_ doing here!? That's all you can say? Where the hell have you been for the last one hundred forty years!" Jack asked incredulous, noticing that this was not the leather clad Time Lord he'd last seen on Game Station but rather a more... pretty incarnation. He couldn't help but be drawn by his magnitude. Shaking off that feeling as he remembered the murders, he added accusingly, "And I want to know exactly what happened in Cardiff back in 2006." He noticed the easy way the Doctor was acting - definitely surprised but not a trace of insanity in his eyes.

The Time Lord's eyes widened with realization when he heard the number of years his former companion had been waiting and searching for him. "Of course! The Eternal Man! Oh, Berega! You are clever!" He reached out and grabbed the former Time Agent's arm, pulling him into the TARDIS.

"What are you doing? You think you can just start up again like nothing happened? Sorry, but that's just not going..." He stopped suddenly, the Doctor's words finally sinking in. "You _knew_! You knew and you just left me there?"

"Umm..." the Doctor hedged as another realization came to him. "You haven't had this conversation yet whereas I already have." He grimaced slightly. "Well... this is going to get a bit ugly," he muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his head as he closed the door.

"What the hell does that mean?" Jack asked, his stance showing just how pissed he was. "I'll admit you don't look like you did then. Better, in fact." He paused. "And I still want to know what happened in Cardiff!"

The Gallifreyan blinked at him for a moment. "Cardiff? Well, other than stopping for a quick pit stop and a chance for my friend to get a good look at the Christmas lights, I can't recall doing anything in Cardiff recently."

Jack looked confused. "Christmas lights?" He tried to puzzle this out. Perhaps Time Lords could experience amnesia. "You don't remember anything else?" Maybe the insanity came and went.

"Just the Christmas lights on Roald Dahl Plass," the Doctor told him. He frowned slightly. "Should I remember something?" He raised a hand. "No. Don't tell me. Could be part of my future. In which case... well..."

"If this is a part of your future, I'd better tell you about it to allow you to find competent mental help!" Jack stated bluntly with intensity.

The Time Lord took a slight step back at the vehemence in his voice. "Blimey. Must be something to get you all riled up."

"Yeah. I'd say becoming a mass murderer that makes Jack the Ripper look like a child cutting out paper dolls is something all right."

"What?!"

"Bodies torn apart in a rage, body parts strewn about like macabre party decorations, and further mutilations," Jack detailed vividly. "No one could do what was done to those men unless they were completely and totally insane. I'm not saying they didn't deserve to be punished but this was... an abomination." Jack watched to see how the Gallifreyan reacted to these charges.

The Doctor looked at the immortal man, shock clear on his face. "And you think _I_ did those things? Jack... you know that I would never..." He shook his head.

"I have proof, Doctor," the ex-Time Agent stated.

"Impossible."

"You know any other beings that have Gallifreyan DNA? You told me you were the last," Jack cried out painfully, his heart breaking at the thought that his friend had either done this and forgotten or would do this if he did not find some way to stop him. Either way, the idea that this darkness was living in the Time Lord completely devastated Jack's view of him.

The latter, hearing that Jack's evidence was Time Lord DNA, exhaled slowly, his expression changing from one of shock to that of deep sadness. "Oh, Master... what have you done?" he whispered, slowly walking to the Captain's chair and slumping into it.

Jack took in the change. "Master? Is that what you call that part of yourself?" he asked with caution, not at all sure that a different personality was not emerging even now.

The Doctor gazed at him with hurt eyes, clearly distressed that his friend could believe him capable of such horrors. "I do not suffer from Dissociative Personality Disorder, Jack."

"Maybe it's just starting. You said this could be in your future." Jack suddenly moved closer. "We can find help for you, Doctor. Maybe this doesn't have to be. Whatever it takes and no matter how long, I'll stay with you and help you through this. Just please don't let it get to that."

"I appreciate your loyalty, Jack. But what happened in Cardiff isn't part of my future. I did not kill and will not kill those people," came the gentle response.

"But I saw..."

"You saw Gallifreyan DNA. It wasn't mine."

"You said you're the last of your species," Jack reminded.

"I was wrong." Seeing the confused look on the face of his former companion, he clarified. "His name is the Master. He's a Time Lord. Unfortunately, he is also quite insane, though why he would go on a killing spree in Cardiff is beyond me." The look on Jack's face remained. "He's usually more logical with his insanity."

Jack listened to the explanation, at first confused but then understanding that his friend was not to blame for what he'd seen. The relief he felt was euphoric. "Halleluia! It was the Master and he's the one who's insane!" With a broad smile of relief, he literally grabbed the Time Lord into a bear hug.

The Gallifreyan raised his eyebrows at the multiple expressions of utter joy his friend exuded. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, too stunned at the revelations and Jack's reaction to it all to react verbally. When a word did finally escape his lips, it didn't fit the situation at all. "Right."

Still hugging the Gallifreyan, Jack continued. "You don't know how relieved I am. For the past three years, based on you being the last Time Lord, there wasn't any way I could see a different solution. I knew you couldn't do something so vile." He paused as the new knowledge suddenly leading to the next revelation, letting the Doctor go, he pushed back. "You called him the Master? Is he still here? On Earth?" He'd gone into his Torchwood mode. This was the type of alien problem the world didn't need. Serial killers from space.

"Yes, he's still here on Earth," the Doctor informed him, tucking his hands into his pockets the moment that Jack stopped hugging him and went into investigative role. "What are you doing here, Jack? I doubt you came all this way from Cardiff just to try to find me, especially when you have that Rift and Project Quantum Leap to watch over."

The surprise on Jack's face couldn't have been more marked. "What did you just say?" Before the Time Lord could answer, the surprise turned to indignation. "You know exactly what I'm doing? You've been watching me? You leave me on that space station without even an explanation and then do this? What game are you playing, Doctor?"

"I told you," the Gallifreyan stated. "In my view, I've already had this conversation. Well, the part about Torchwood and Quantum Leap and Game Station."

The immortal man's eyes narrowed. "You've met me in my future," he inferred. "That still doesn't help me now. I want to know what the hell happened on Game Station. I was dead. I know that. I remember being overwhelmed by the Daleks and thinking it was a shame but it had to be. Then I woke up. I've been waking up after death ever since and most of the time it hurts like hell." He paused again. "But the worst of it was seeing you leave like you did. Why? Why did you do that? Did you know what had happened to me?"

The Time Lord looked on his former companion with unreadable eyes, though it was obvious that there was no humor in them. "Yes," he finally told him bluntly. "I knew what had happened to you. That was why I left."

"You're saying it was deliberate," Jack stated in confirmation. The Doctor's lack of verbal response, along with the steady gaze he gave the immortal man, reaffirmed his statement. His voice bitter, the ex-Time Agent continued. "That first time. When I didn't know I would wake up... I thought we were a team. I was willing to die in what looked to be a battle against insurmountable odds. Obviously you found a way to pull victory from that certain defeat. Why would you just leave me then? What could I have possibly done to deserve that treatment? You still haven't answered what happened. I think I've earned an explanation. Why don't I stay dead?"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "You have earned an explanation. And you are right in that you didn't deserve to be left behind. But you'd changed, Jack. You're a fixed point in time and space. An impossibility. For a Time Lord... Just looking at you... You're all wrong, Jack. You shouldn't exist and yet... here you are." He sighed slightly. "Can't blame her, though." Seeing the confusion on Jack's face, he clarified. "Rose came back after I sent her home. She came back with the time vortex running through her head. The power of a god in a fragile human mind. Everything she did was so human. Destroyed the Daleks, brought her friend back to life... but she couldn't control it. I had to take it out of her before it killed her."

"You...?" Jack asked, not entirely sure what that would mean. "Is Rose okay? Where is she, Doctor?"

"Rose is fine," the Gallifreyan assured him. "She's... Well, she's with you. Well, the future you, not the you you are now. At least for the time being. Once Sam leaps out of her, she'll be right back where she belongs."

As the Doctor spoke to him of his and Rose's future reunion, Jack smiled. However when he started talking about Sam, he was suddenly pulled back to the facts about the project that he'd help to keep running. "Sam? Leaping?" His eyes narrowed. "Are you referring to Sam Beckett?

The Doctor grinned. "Know anyone else named Sam who leaps into people?" He paused for a moment, a slight frown on his face. "Mind you, I once knew someone named Sam who leaped _onto_ people. Rather embarrassing, really..."

"Really..." Jack mused. "Sounds interesting."

"It wasn't like that!" the Doctor protested as a young voice filtered into the room. The alien pointed a finger at Jack warningly, knowing that Glad had woken and was heading towards the console room. "Behave yourself."

"Who's that?" Jack asked, curious in spite of himself as to what the Doctor was currently up to.

"Doctor?" the girl questioned, padding into the room as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "I heard something. Like pounding." She blinked as she looked at the strange man in front of her, her body stiffening slightly in his presence.

The Time Lord instantly noticed her stance and went to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "It's okay. He's a friend," he assured.

Jack noticed how the Doctor acted around the girl and recalled the warning he'd received. He offered his hand to her but didn't exude the implied question that he usually did. "Um. I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

Glad's eyes brightened instantly at his words. "You're Jack?" she questioned, suddenly excited.

He blinked at the reaction. "You know of me?" He looked at the Doctor and then back to her. "What has he told you about me?"

"Oh, I've heard so much about you! Well, mostly I've heard one side of conversations between you and Sam and the Doctor," she replied. "But from what I heard, the Doctor considers you a close friend, even if you aren't much of a gentleman."

Jack straightened. "I'm a gentleman," he argued. "I just like to experience... um... life at its finest."

"The Doctor keeps telling you to stop it," she replied a little haughtily. "And he warned you about me only being sixteen. Well, I'm not stupid even if I just learned how to read and write."

"Sixteen?" He looked over at the Doctor, his eyebrow askance. He turned to the girl. "You have me at a disadvantage. You know I'm Jack Harkness but I don't know your name."

The Doctor took the cue. "Jack Harkness, this is Galadriel Thatcher. My ward," he added for clarification.

"You're kidding..." Jack started but stopped at the Gallifreyan's expression.

"She had no home when I met her. And she's clever." He paused. "And what's wrong with me having a ward?"

"It's just that it's hard to picture you with a ward, especially the you I first met."

"Well..." the Time Lord replied, drawing out the single word for a moment. "I was a different man then."

"What does ward mean?" Glad questioned. "You said that word before. What does it mean?"

"It means that I... take care of you. That you're my responsibility."

"Yeah, you do," she agreed, hugging him.

Jack watched the two interact before asking, "So where is Sam? He's sort of my responsibility."

"Umm... he's..." The Time Lord frowned, remembering what he'd told the Leaper before. "Umm... I'll be back." He turned to Glad. "You'll be okay with him. He's mostly harmless." He gave her a wink before starting towards the inner door. "And don't you fill her head with ideas!" he told Jack before leaving.

"Children should be allowed to explore ideas, Doctor," Jack called after him

"I'm not a child," Glad protested his words as she sat on the Captain's chair, bringing her feet up with her. "I'm nearly seventeen."

"Seventeen, hmmm. Almost ancient," Jack teased.

She rolled his eyes at him. "You know what? You're exactly how I imagined you." Her tone indicated that it wasn't a compliment.

"Is that so," Jack answered back. "Anyone tell you that you're an impetuous imp?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you should learn to speak better of your elders."

She lowered her head, plainly upset by his words. "I'm sorry," she said genuinely. "I'm just... I'm not..." She sighed softly. "I'm not comfortable around strangers. At least... not anymore," she finished quietly.

"Why? What happened," Jack asked genuinely interested.

"I don't want to talk about it," she told him bluntly, avoiding looking at him. "But the Doctor says you're his friend so... I guess you're okay to be with." She fingered the pendant around her neck, taking comfort in the feel of it in her hand.

Jack smiled. "You don't have to worry. I don't bite." He looked at the necklace. "Nice piece of jewelry. The Doctor give it to you?"

She grinned at his words, scooting over slightly on the chair as an offer for Jack to share it with her. "No. Merlin did."

"Merlin? Like... in the wizard?"

She nodded. "He's really very nice. A bit mysterious, like you'd imagine a wizard to be. That was just before the Doctor took me away from my old home. I'm much happier here. He's got an awful lot of rules though. Like stay away from sweets."

"I take it you don't like that."

"Well, he gets to have all the sweets he wants but he keeps telling me that I can't have that many. I just don't think it's really fair."

Jack nodded. "Lots of things the Doctor decides aren't really fair." With a conspiratorial grin, he hinted, "I think I know where he stores the _really_ good ice cream, if his new… um... personality still likes that kind of treat."

"Really?" she whispered, certain that if she spoke up, the Doctor would listen into their conversation.

"Yeah... really. Come on. While he's gone we can get a bowl or two in."

Giggling, she jumped up from the chair and jogged to the door. She waited impatiently as Jack joined her and together they made their way to the kitchen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

While Jack, unbeknownst to him, was doing exactly the opposite of what he was instructed, the Doctor found Sam in one of the many gardens in the TARDIS, though why it took so long to find the garden, he wasn't sure. He suspected that the TARDIS was giving Jack and Glad some time to get acquainted without his interference. The leaper was sitting on a bench, clearly still troubled by Glad's dream and the implications if it became fact. Going up to him, the Time Lord touched his shoulder. "We'll find a way to prevent it from happening."

Sam turned his green eyes up to the Doctor's face. "I hope so. I've been sitting here trying to accept what was likely to happen since you seemed unsure that there was anything we could do. What changed your mind?"

"I had a talk with Berega. He's an interesting man. Gave me a few insights from his dreamtime. Actually, one of those insights is chatting with Glad in the console room." Sam's eyes communicated confusion. "Berega told me that the Eternal Man would reset time. As it so happens, we just got a new arrival by the name of Captain Jack Harkness."

"Jack's back as the observer again? Is he acting the same way Al and Doris did?" The leaper started pacing. "I'm surprised that the Imaging Chamber is working with Ziggy calculating pi. Unless they didn't start..."

"I haven't seen anyone from your project since we sent Albert away, Sam," the Doctor told him.

"But you said Jack was here."

"And he is." The alien started towards the garden's entrance. "Come on. Let's find out why."

Sam followed the Doctor. "Jack's here... real flesh and blood? Not a hologram and you don't know why?" he asked to assure he understood the change in events.

"Yup. Well, other than to clarify some misconceptions that he had concerning me."

"Love to know what those could be," the leaped quipped, garnering a friendly glare from the Gallifreyan. "Okay. Lead on. Just another mystery to get to the bottom of."

The two strolled through the TARDIS, heading towards the console room. However, as they found themselves passing the kitchen, they heard the sound of laughter through the open doorway. Turning towards the gaiety, the Doctor stepped into the room, noting that the two he'd left behind were now in the middle of an open half-gallon of ice cream. He sighed at the sight. "I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with her," he complained, his gaze on Jack, who was in the process of licking his spoon clean.

"What? I just wanted to 'break the ice' cream with her. Seemed like a great idea." He finished the rest of his spoon with a flourish. "Still does."

"I'm trying to teach her proper eating habits for a human girl her age," the Doctor berated. "In the last week, she's had more sugar than is produced in a single day by a candy factory."

"I like candy," Glad commented with a wide grin as she dug her spoon into the ice cream again. "And I _love_ ice cream!"

Jack smiled at her and turned to see another person behind the Doctor. She looked like Rose and yet... didn't. He looked closer, his eyebrows going up in surprise and he stood up smiling and extending his hand. "Hi, Captain Jack Harkness. You must be Sam Beckett." He gave the man and aura an appreciative look up and down. "Interesting combination of aura and man. Could be very interesting."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't start with that again. And Glad, put the ice cream back in the freezer where you found it. You've already had far too many sweets."

The corners of Glad's mouth turned downward. "Can I at least finish my bowl?'

The Time Lord sighed. "I give up," he murmured, knowing that it was a losing battle. Leaning forward slightly, he kissed her on the top of her head. "Go on, finish your ice cream. After you're done, though, I want you to go practice your reading and writing."

Sam looked at the 51st century man with forbearance. "We've already been through this. I'm still not the slightest bit interested."

Jack seemed slightly disappointed in Sam's rejection but accepted it nonetheless. It didn't, however, stop him from grinning widely at the thoughts just looking at Sam brought to mind. His thoughts, however, quickly refocused as he turned back to the Doctor. "We still have some unfinished business to discuss."

"Yes, we do. I'd offer you tea but you are probably still full from plying yourself with my ice cream stock."

"I always say, one's never too full for tea." He gazed back over to Sam. "So, if Al's to be believed, you're here for a reason. What's going on?"

Sam considered how to answer that question. "So far on this leap, we haven't quite figured that out but I think this situation with Lothos and the Master is likely the ultimate reason."

"So far on this leap?" Jack questioned with a frown. "How long has it been going on?"

"Five weeks, one day, thirteen hours, fifty-one minutes," the Doctor replied without hesitation.

Sam looked at him with a wry gaze. "I'm surprised you don't count the seconds as well."

"I do. Just no point in saying them when, by the time you do, it's no longer correct. And I don't really count it. I just feel it. Part of being a Time Lord."

Jack blinked. "That's a record," he said to the time lost scientist. "According to the files, the longest you've ever been on a leap has been two weeks."

"Yeah. A whole lot of firsts this time. First dragon, first time out of the solar system, first time almost being killed by Zante's Bronchial Influenza..."

"You met a Dragon?" Jack beamed at the revelation. The beam immediately dampened upon hearing the name of the disease. "Wait a minute. ZBI went extinct ages ago."

"Not where and when we went," the Gallifreyan replied. "Ooo. I like that. Where and when we went with Wally the Walrus."

Tilting his head, Sam looked confused. "Wally the Walrus? I don't remember any walrus. When was that?"

The Doctor returned the confusion expression. "Samuel... you really aren't making any sense."

"Me? You're the one that said we went somewhere with a walrus. A waitress dressed as a playing card and a cat-headed alien posing as an Egyptian goddess, yeah... but I don't remember any walrus."

"An Osiran? You met an Osiran? They're extinct!" Jack exclaimed. "You've been busy beavers."

"So's silphium but he managed to find that too," Sam responded.

"Buddy and Benny, the Busy Beavers, seeking silphium in Ceres," the Time Lord grinned broadly.

"Huh?" the two men said together.

"Well, I couldn't think of anything in Egypt that started with an 'S' sound," the Doctor explained.

Realization dawned on Sam's face. "Oh. You're just enraptured with alliteration. I should have known."

"Come now, Sam. You really didn't think there was a walrus named Wally out there somewhere, did you?"

"I wouldn't have believed half the stuff I've had thrown at me these past five weeks before meeting you. Why not a walrus?"

"Walrus, yes. Wally the Walrus? The Periti wouldn't get caught dead with a name like that."

"Would you two stop it?" Jack finally said.

"Won't help," Glad commented, still working slowly on her ice cream. "They do this kind of stuff all the time."

"Really? I guess it makes sense. The two of them have a lot in common. Broad interests, time travel, saving the universe, scientific discov..." Suddenly his face lost all color. "Oh, shit!" He jumped up and started out of the kitchen.

"What?" the Doctor questioned. Turning towards Glad, he pointed to her. "Stay here," he ordered before Sam and he quickly followed the ex-Time Agent through the TARDIS and out the main doors. "What?" he repeated. Not getting a reply, he decided that he would know soon enough what caused the head of Torchwood so much concern.

Jack had started to head down the small rise the TARDIS was sitting on, the other two in close pursuit when they were stopped by a rather haughty female voice that came from the direction of the TARDIS. Turning they saw an auburn-headed woman walking from behind the blue police box.

"You son of a bitch! You bring me out into the middle of nothing in the middle of the night and spend eternity sitting in a police box? I don't even _want_ to know what this thing is doing out here..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed a man and a young woman with Jack. "Or what you were _doing_ in it," she added in a stunned voice.

"Um... yeah. About that..." Jack started, with an expression that looked as if he'd been caught with his fingers in the cookie jar. "I guess introductions would be in order. Margaret? This is the Doctor and um... Sam." He then introduced his companion in the Outback. "And this is Dr. Margaret Hawthorne."

Sam's smiled. "You're a geologist, right? I've read some of your papers. Interesting theories."

The Doctor extended his hand, shaking the scientist's enthusiastically. "Pleased to meet you, Dr. Hawthorne. Have no clue who you are but I assume you know a bit or two."

Margaret looked at the young woman. "You don't look old enough to have spent much time reading academic papers on geologic phenomena..." Suddenly she felt her hand being pumped. She turned to the rather tall, rakish man with the unruly hair. "Glad to meet you as well, Doctor..." She realized that Jack hadn't given his full name. "...Who?"

"Just... the Doctor," he told her. "So... geologist, eh? What do you make of our mysterious rock which crashed to Earth a couple miles in that direction?" He pointed towards the crater, which couldn't be seen from their distance in the dark. "I assume you know about it. Otherwise, you wouldn't be out here with Jack."

She lifted her eyebrow in a distinctively skeptical fashion when the Doctor didn't give his name or even field of specialty. However, when he started talking about the meteorite she'd seen so briefly, her head tilted and she turned to Jack. "You knew we were going to meet these people and you never said anything?" She then looked at the blue box again. "And no one's yet explained what the hell three people were doing for nearly an hour in that thing."

"I had no idea they'd be here..." Jack began.

"Right," Margaret said, obviously disbelieving the man. "You're some pervert. That's what you are. Why the hell I came out here..."

"He has a unique way of looking at things maybe, but I wouldn't call him a pervert exactly," Sam said with a grin. "As for three people in a police box... Doctor, perhaps you should show her the inside," he suggested as a way of calming the woman down. Nothing like seeing the truth, especially when it was mind blowing enough to take the wind out of someone's sails.

"Show some complete stranger the inside of the TARDIS?" the Doctor questioned with a frown.

"Well, otherwise, her assumptions of two men and a woman in a box barely the size of a small linen closet in the middle of nowhere is likely to be rather... creative," Sam said in explanation of his comment. "Besides, from what I've read of Dr. Hawthorne's work, I'd bet she'll have the same reaction I did."

The Time Lord sighed. "I suppose. But only to save my reputation and Rose's. Jack's has already been soiled beyond repair." He gestured her over to him with an index finger and then opened the door of his time ship. "Take a look."

Margaret's skepticism continued to grow. "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you. This one," she said nodding to Jack, "made a pass at me almost immediately. I didn't get pulled back out to the bush to get involved in…"

Sam shook his head. "It's not like that. Really. I can tell you that nothing in your scientific career will prepare you fully for the experience."

The Doctor grabbed her arm impatiently and pulled her towards him, placing her in front of him so that she could see in. "Just… look."

Margaret was taken aback by the slightly rough movement and was going to say so when she saw it. Her mouth dropped open as she started walking through the door. "It's got to be an illusion or something..."

"Well? Aren't you going to say it? Everyone else does." He and the others followed her in.

"What?" she asked as she ran her hand along the wall, providing tangible proof to her senses that what was only possible as an obscure mathematical theory was actually physically in front of her.

"That it's bigger on the inside," he stated as if it should be obvious what he was talking about. The Doctor looked almost hurt that Margaret hadn't spoken the words he had so often heard.

"Well, of course, it is. Anybody could see that," she stated as if it was the most natural thing in the world to see such a wonder. "But it is remarkable. The engineering for this must have been..." Suddenly, her face turned white. "...alien. No one on earth could create this." She blinked. "This is actual, physical proof of alien existence. Where did you find it? Have you had it examined? What..." she continued, hardly taking a breath.

"Told you," Sam stated, having his prediction proved true.

"It's called the TARDIS," the Gallifreyan told her as he leaned against the railings of the time ship. "Stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. And yes... it's alien. And I found her in a scrap yard, about to be disassembled for spare parts, poor girl." He patted one of the columns affectionately.

"Oh. You've feminized her, like a captain does with a ship. But how did it get here? It wasn't here before. I would have remembered something like a blue police box when I was here the last time." Suddenly, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Does this have something to do with Saxon? Has he somehow discovered aliens and now is using their technology to further his ambitions? I swear that man has rubbed me the wrong way and I won't be party to any group that is in league with him. He might fool the mass majority of people, but I see him for the tin plated third world dictator he is." Looking intensely into the Time Lord's eyes, she asked pointedly, "What exactly are you doing out here?"

"You make it sound like this is another Roswell Incident. Mind you, I've always wanted to visit Dreamland but haven't gotten around to it."

"I've been to Roswell," Sam started but immediately backed off the topic when he saw the expression on the professor's face. "But that's not important."

"Oh, this is just bonzer." She turned to Jack. "I should have known. Saxon's obviously spewing that I sued him for the rights to examine what should rightly belong to the Australian government and not a private citizen. So, what are you planning to do? Turn me over to the police for trespassing?"

Jack shook his head. "I didn't even know we'd find them here. I told you the truth earlier."

"Oi!" the Doctor put in at her accusations. "No one is turning anyone over to the police, especially not at the behest of Harold Saxon. This TARDIS is private property and isn't a trick or a means to further anyone's ambitions except my own. And the only ambition I have is to see the universe. Well, that and to stop the Master from taking over the universe."

"The Master? Who the hell is the Master?"

"Harold Saxon," the Time Lord clarified.

"If you _aren't_ working for him, why would you call him your master?" Margaret asked standing toe-to-toe with the lanky man.

"I didn't call him my master. I called him _the_ Master. Big difference there."

"I don't see much of a difference, other than ' _the_ Master' sounds more like an inflated title the mongrel would likely fancy."

"The difference is that the Master is his name. But that doesn't mean that by calling him by his name I'm deferring my will to his."

"Name? How could that be a bloody name?"

"He chose it, just like I chose mine."

"Which you still haven't told me, Doctor..." she fished for his last name.

"Obviously I have, otherwise you wouldn't be calling me Doctor," he pointed out.

"You're telling me you are _the_ Doctor and Harold Saxon is _the_ Master? I think you're both mad as a cut snake."

Jack sighed. "Margaret, the Doctor and the Master are from Gallifrey. They choose their names there."

"I've never heard of the country of Gallifrey."

Jack laughed. "It's not a country. It's not a town in Ireland either. It's a planet."

"If that's true," Margaret started, "then the Doctor would be an extraterrestrial... and alien."

Sam nodded. "Exactly."

"Yep!" the ex-Time Agent affirmed.

Margaret continued, "And if Saxon is..." For the second time, her face went white. "Oh, my gawd! He's an alien too."

"Again, you win the prize, Dr. Hawthorne," Jack told her, a wide grin on his face as he stood with his hands on his hips.

She blinked and started pacing. "It all makes sense now. That bastard..." She looked up. "That would still fit? There are bastards out in space as well, right?" She asked rhetorically before going on. "...that bastard's trying to take over our planet. Well, he has another thing coming..." She stopped again and narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. "What about you? What are your plans for Earth?"

"Should I have plans for Earth?" the Doctor questioned. "Do you want me to have plans? I can if you want but I honestly never really made a set plan for anything. Much more fun that way." He gave her a broad grin.

Sam shook his head. "Don't worry about him. From what I understand, we probably wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for the Doctor."

"I second that assessment," Jack agreed.

Margaret considered that. "Okay. I'll accept that for now." She thought for another moment. "Still we have to have a plan to stop this Saxon man... or Gallifreyan... or whatever he is."

"Oh, I have a plan," the Time Lord told her confidently. At her expression, he added, "but not to take over Earth. It starts... well... with you, Margaret Hawthorne."

"What?" she asked. "How on Earth could you have a plan with me in it? We barely met half an hour ago."

"The Pi Network is already affecting the population of Australia, if Jack is to be believed," he told her. "It's even already starting to spread elsewhere in the world." He walked up to her and looked her in the eyes. "My question is... why aren't you affected?"

"I have no idea of what you're talking about. What is the Pi Network?"

Sam spoke up. "Don't you watch TV? Videos? Use the Internet? Listen to the radio?"

Margaret shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I don't have the time, much less a desire to do those things."

Jack tilted his head, "Not even 'Countdown?' What do you do for music?"

Margaret shook her head again. "I read books and I refuse to use that damned box on my desk that the University insists on keeping there. Typewriters work just fine, thank you very much. As for music, I play the cello."

Sam grinned. "I told you she was interesting. You really ought to read her papers. Brilliant mind."

"That's it!" the Doctor exclaimed. "No electronic connections to the outside world whatsoever! I had a feeling that was what the Master was using to hypnotize everyone. Bet you don't even have a cell phone."

Margaret laughed. "I'm glad someone appreciates it. My dean doesn't. He says I should be using the technology that's out there. I just don't see why. Just more junk to clutter up an office."

Jack grinned. "So reading and playing the cello. Sounds a bit boring. There are other ways to entertain yourself that don't use electronics. In fact, there's a planet in the Mantlos system where the people engage in..."

Sam spoke up this time, beating the Doctor to the punch. "Don't say it, Jack."

The Gallifreyan frowned at Sam's interruption. "Not everything Jack says is an innuendo. But I doubt that Dr. Hawthorne is much interested in the social habits of people on other planets."

Jack responded to the Time Lord. "I don't know. Depends on if she's open to new activities." He turned back to the professor. "It might interest you to know that the game Twister was invented on Mantlos... only they didn't wear clothes. A rogue Time Agent brought it back to the 20th century with the plan to blend into the culture and live off the profits. Didn't work very well for her, though."

The Doctor groaned. "I stand corrected," he muttered.

Margaret blinked. "You're making that up."

"It's true," he protested. "She actually tried it. Unfortunately for her, the Time Agency caught up with her and arrested her for altering the course of human history."

"That's rich coming from an agency that tended to alter history more than they protected it," the Doctor commented.

"What's this time agency?" Sam asked, the concept that there was a group changing time sounded familiar. Maybe he'd been wrong. Could this agency be leaping him, using his project for their goals?

"An organization from the 51st century. Humans travelling through time on the pretense of protecting it from alteration. You remember that time cabinet in the museum, the one owned by Magnus Greel..."

"You found Magnus Greel's time cabinet?" Jack exclaimed with wide eyes.

"I'm the one that stopped him in the first place," the Time Lord confirmed. "Good thing your people didn't get him first. Depending on his loyalties, the agent sent after him might have actually helped him rather than arrested him."

Jack glared at the innuendo. "I was the agent sent after him," he told him darkly. "The only reason I stopped looking for him was that I found his body in the local morgue three days after his corpse was brought in. There were no clues as to what happened with the cabinet. Or at least, the constabulary wouldn't say anything and I couldn't find traces of it with my vortex manipulator."

The Doctor looked at him with surprise. "Really? In that case, I apologize for doubting your integrity. You obviously did a thorough job in your investigations at the time."

Sam spoke up again now that the Magnus Greel incident was resolved. "This agency didn't interfere with my project, did they? I don't like the idea that a group from the future is..."

"Don't worry. Your project was never touched. Couldn't be. Otherwise the Time Agency wouldn't even exist. It would have been like killing the goose that laid the golden egg," Jack answered.

Margaret looked at the group in front of her. "You're all ga-ga, absolutely out of your minds."

"I suppose we have our moments," the ex-Time Agent commented with a smile.

The Doctor abruptly shifted the conversation on them without hesitation. "Why were you taking Jack into the middle of the Outback?" he asked of the geologist.

At the Doctor's question, she sighed, figuring things couldn't get any crazier. At least this topic was firmly based in reality. "You may not know this, but my team was the first to track the meteorite and then reach the crater to examine it. It was unique. I've never seen any meteorite quite like it. It was almost as if it had an energy source embedded in it. I was about to take it back to Melbourne and my lab when Harold Saxon and his band of henchmen showed up. It seems this land belongs to the Prometheus Institute. Saxon convinced the pollies that gave him ownership of the meteorite. Still you'd expect them to be willing to share the find with researchers."

"Oh, I seriously doubt that any human researchers would have figured out its properties," the Doctor commented, leaning against the console. "No offense but... you aren't exactly experts in condensed anti-matter black holes."

She rolled her eyes, annoyed at have the conversation returning to the crazy talk of before. "Condensed anti-matter black holes? This meteorite is serious not science fiction."

Sam spoke up. "Actually, he's being quite serious. To you and me, they exist on Earth only in theoretical mathematics but they obviously exist in reality as well otherwise that meteorite wouldn't exist."

"Time Lord technology," Jack answered, his eyes on the Doctor. "The Master being a Time Lord, he'd be able to identify a condensed anti-matter black hole, wouldn't he?"

"Oh, yes," the Gallifreyan agreed with a hint of a nod. "And he'd know exactly how powerful it is. Which is precisely why he insisted on owning the meteorite that so fascinated Maggie here."

The geologist looked at the Doctor with annoyance. "My name is Margaret," she corrected.

At that moment, Glad walked into the room. "I thought I heard..." She looked at the newest member of the group. Moving quickly to the Doctor and slightly behind him, she asked, "Who's she?"

"This is Dr. Hawthorne. She's a geologist..." He stopped, his eyes moving to the pendant hanging around her neck. Slowly, he reached over to take it in his hand. "It's warm..." he commented, noting how the obsidian stone was glowing gently. Without saying anything, he removed it from her neck and brought it closer to Margaret, watching it glow a little brighter the closer it was to her. "Interesting..."

Jack was watching as well. "What is that thing?" he asked, curious.

"It's also a condensed black hole," the Doctor answered. "Well, a small bit of a condensed black hole, anyway. Basically, the exact opposite of what the Master has at this moment. And apparently... it's having a reaction to the radiation Dr. Hawthorne absorbed when she was in contact with the negative Eye."

"Radiation absorbed?" Margaret asked, surprised at his statement. "Our field tests indicated that shouldn't happen with this meteorite since there was an energy signature but no real radioactivity. Certainly nothing I should have absorbed."

"Oh, you wouldn't have detected anything. It's not known to Earth sciences. Completely harmless. Well, as harmless as it can be coming from a condensed anti-matter black hole, which I have never encountered before so I suppose that isn't saying much as to how harmless it really is."

Sam looked at the Doctor. "I take it that's longhand for 'you just don't know.'"

"Oh, Dr. Hawthorne is definitely irradiated. And I have no doubt that the Black Eye... you know, that's what we should call the anti-matter black hole... is radioactive in its own way. The Eye of Harmony was radioactive also. Gave off artron energy, which was the primary power source for Time Lord society. Artron energy is completely harmless if one is irradiated by it. But that isn't to say this Black Eye gives off the same kind of energy or that it is harmless. The questions then are... is this new energy dangerous due to its anti-matter qualities... and what exactly is causing Glad's pendant to glow as it is right now other than radiation?" He thought for a moment. "Sam... where is that sliver of the Black Eye you found?"

Sam retrieved the glass vial that he'd put the sliver in. "Here," he said, handing it to the Gallifreyan.

Tucking the vial in his pocket, the Time Lord pulled out his sonic screwdriver at the same time. Looking over to Glad with sympathy, he told her, "Sorry about this. Just need a sample from your necklace." He handed the pendant to Sam. "Hold this." Keeping one hand below the necklace, he aimed the screwdriver at the pendant. Nothing happened other than a slight glow on the Eye. "Must be on a different frequency," he muttered to himself. He readjusted the screwdriver and again aimed the beam. As very small piece sheared off and fell into the palm of his hand, he looked confused. "Did anyone hear that?"

"Hear what?" Sam questioned. "All I heard was the sound of your sonic screwdriver."

"Music. I swore I heard a couple of notes." He shook his head slightly, as if brushing off what had to be a figment of his imagination. As he reached into his pocket to retrieve a second vial, he told Sam to return the jewelry to Glad. He put the sliver from the pendent in this vial. "There we go! Couldn't be easier." Then, pulling out the vial with the meteorite sample, he moved the two slivers closer together and noted how they luminesced as they were brought in proximity to each other.

Glad had put the pendant back on and now commented on the phenomena. "Wow. That's bright. Why are they doing that?"

"Umm... I'm thinking..." The Gallifreyan looked around his console room. "Everyone stay here. I'll be right back," he instructed, walking out of the TARDIS.

Jack blinked. "No one leave here. That's an order," he stated firmly as he followed the Doctor.

"But you..." Sam started.

"If I'm right, I need to stop the Doctor. Now stay put." He closed the door behind him. He noticed the Time Lord, several yards away, obviously in thought. "What are you doing, Doctor?" the ex-Time Agent asked as he saw the Gallifreyan starting to uncap a vial.

"Performing an experiment," the latter said, his voice showing deep concentration. "Now, I have no idea what this is going to do so... stay back."

"You planning on putting those pieces together?"

"Only one way to prove my theory. Merlin's grandmother made Glad's pendant as a weapon. At least that's what Berega told me. Nice Aboriginal clairvoyant. Lovely fellow. Against what, I'm not sure but if the Master has the rest of the Black Eye, I'm betting that the pendant is a weapon against it. Makes sense, really. Positively charged piece of a condensed black hole and a negatively charged piece of another condensed black hole. Should make for an interesting reaction."

"Yeah. Interesting but possibly not optimal to experience up close and personal-like." Jack stated. "Matter and anti-matter will cancel each other out and in the process create a rather... large... reaction. The amount of energy released would be incredibly destructive."

"Oh, I seriously doubt that Merlyna would have created a weapon that would cause mass destruction of a planet she obviously was intent on saving. Likely that the condensed black holes have a completely different reaction profile," the Doctor told him. "I'm sure the reaction will be spectacular but fairly subdued due to the small amount we are working with."

"You're sure about that, are you?" Jack reached out his hands. "I have a better idea. You'd better let me put them together. I'll just go into the bush a little to perform your experiment, away from the rest of you. That way, if you're right, no problem. If you're wrong, well... let's just say I'm the best one to perform the experiment."

The Time Lord paused, considering his words. "Very well. But make sure you throw it as far as you can the second the slivers are in the same vial. Just in case." He handed the negative sliver to Jack and then reached into his pocket. A search later, he came up with a second vial and carefully slipped the positive sliver into it before handing that one to Jack.

"You can count on it, Doctor," Jack answered, taking the two vials and putting them into opposite pockets.

The Gallifreyan gave him a nod and then watched for a moment as the Captain jogged away from the TARDIS. He went back into the time ship, closing the door.

"Where's Jack, Doctor?" Sam asked.

"He's... running an experiment."

"Does this experiment have anything to do with the slivers from the condensed black holes?" Sam asked, hoping the experiment wasn't what he thought it was.

"Sort of."

"Sort of?" Sam responded, questioning. "He's not going to sort of put the two slivers together is he?" Overwhelming dread was building inside.

"Yes," the alien finally admitted. "He is. Someone has to do it. Have to be certain about the possible results."

The human physicist's eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind? You have to know that if negative and positive matter come into contact with each other..." He started for the door. "We've got to stop him!"

The Doctor rushed over and grabbed Sam's arm. "Come on," he ordered gently. Pulling him away from the door, he forcibly guided him towards the console. "He knows what he's doing. We should be safe in here."

Sam looked at the door with concern. "But if he..."

"I believe that there may be a somewhat more benign reaction, Sam. These are condensed black holes. They may have totally different reactions than the run of the mill variety of matter and antimatter," the Doctor explained, knowing the rest of Sam's statement before he could finish it.

"But if you're wrong..." Suddenly there was a severe shockwave, preventing Sam from finishing his sentence as he and everyone else in the TARDIS were knocked off their feet followed seconds later by with a muffled sound of an explosion. "Oh, boy," Sam said with trepidation.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"What was that?" Glad questioned, fear tainting her eyes as everyone slowly stood up. She turned her head first to Sam and then to the Doctor. "Someone tell me what's going on."

Margaret had a stunned look on her face. "Was that... what I think it was?"

Rubbing the back of his head, the Doctor widened his eyes in surprise. "Didn't expect it to be that strong. I'm glad Jack talked me out of doing it myself."

Sam rushed to the door. Opening it, he stopped and blinked. In front of him a little distance from the TARDIS, there was evidence of extreme devastation and no sign of anyone. "Oh, gawd!" he exclaimed, worried about the missing man.

The Gallifreyan walked up behind him and followed Sam's gaze. "Blimey, a lot bigger than I thought it would be." He grimaced. "That had to hurt."

Sam turned on the alien, a maelstrom of emotion on his face, primarily shocked revulsion. "Jack was your friend. How the hell could you let him do that? You had to know that this was the likely result!"

"Like I said, I didn't think it would be that big of an explosion. Besides, he volunteered. Good thing too. I can survive a lot of things but there's no way I could have survived that. Probably wouldn't have even regenerated." He considered his own words for a moment. "Probably wouldn't have even had the time."

"So you let him sacrifice himself? You are insane! We could have tested that differently. We could have..." Sam was trying deal with the loss. "...gone somewhere else... used other equipment. Jack didn't need to die."

Glad's eyes were filled with tears. "He's dead? The Captain's dead? Why?"

Margaret glared at the Doctor. "You know, I'd like to know that too. Why?"

The Doctor shook his head, pushing past Sam to observe the crater better. "He ran a good distance before introducing the two together, from what I can see. Based on the strength of that explosion and the distance he ran, I'd say it'll be quite a while before we see any sign of him."

"You're sick!" Margaret exclaimed, moving away from him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Sam with heat in his voice. "You sound like you expect him to walk out of that," he said gesturing towards the crater.

"If he doesn't after forty-eight hours, we'll go look for him." The Doctor headed back into the TARDIS.

"Look for him?" Sam asked incredulous as he followed the Gallifreyan back into the time ship. His voice turned bitter. "What do you expect to find, Doctor? I doubt there'd be anything left!"

Margaret looked back once and then started inside as well along with Glad. The young girl looked over to the Doctor, tears in her eyes and cascading down her cheeks. "He wasn't as bad as you said. He was kind to me. Why did you let him do that?"

Seeing Glad's torn heart in her eyes, the Gallifreyan took a step towards her. "Because I knew he'd be all right no matter the outcome. You're right. He is a good man. And I am grateful he had the foresight to stop me from doing something extremely foolish."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "No way anyone would be 'all right' after that, Doctor. No way." Margaret nodded her agreement.

The Time Lord regarded his companions for a long moment. "If I actually explained the situation to you, none of you would ever believe me. Obviously, you all need to see it for yourself. And considering that right now you are about to start a riot..." He walked to the console and rolled a wheel. "Forty-eight hours, just like I said." A moment later, the TARDIS shook slightly and then stopped.

Sam's eyes were livid. "So what... you moved us a couple of days into the future? What do you think forty-eight hours is going to do? That crater is still out there and Jack Harkness is still gone. I don't know what's come over you, Doctor but..."

The Gallifreyan simply walked towards the door, grabbing Sam's arm on the way and pulling him along. Opening the door, he stepped out of the time ship before releasing the leaper. "Jack?" he called out.

Margaret and Glad hurried out to follow the duo, both concerned and upset about the Doctor's mental state.

"Where were you?" came a masculine voice. "I thought you'd left me again. And just for the record, I'm _never_ going to do that again."

"You're a ghost!" Glad blinked several times before averting her eyes. "And naked!"

"Again," the Doctor added, pulling off his long coat and handing it over to him. "Seriously, Jack. Can't you remain clothed?" he teased.

"And just where do you think I'd get them? This time it wasn't from choice," the Captain said, pulling the coat over his body and not quite succeeding due to the difference in the

men's sizes. "Too snug."

"It's a temporary fix," the Doctor pointed out.

Sam and Margaret looked over at the man they were sure had been killed and likely vaporized, completely amazed both by his existence and his somewhat casual reaction to being raised from the dead. Glad slowly turned her head back towards the ex-Time Agent, now assured that he was at least covered partially. The trepidation on her visage, however, remained.

Jack smiled at the young girl. "I'm no ghost, Glad. See, I'm real," he said reaching out and taking her hand.

At his touch, Glad's face brightened. "It is you!" she said, pulling close to him and hugging him tightly.

Margaret finally found her voice. "How can you be alive?" The shock in her voice was matched by the expression on her face. Sam just nodded.

He shrugged. "It's complicated but not unexpected." Looking over to the Gallifreyan, he groused. "That hurt like a sonofabitch."

The Doctor looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I would imagine that is the understatement of the year, considering that you likely had to re-coalesce."

"Re-coalesce?" Sam asked. "That's impossible."

Margaret's eyes narrowed. "What really happened, Jack?"

Glad continued to hug him. "I don't care what happened. I'm just happy he's okay."

The Captain smiled widely at Glad's words, patting her back as he looked at the others. "What really happened? Short version, two and two equals instantaneous boom," he answered. Looking at the Doctor, he added, "Barely had time to throw it at all."

"That isn't good," the Gallifreyan said with a frown. "Means it's far more volatile than I thought. Well... that's pretty obvious, considering that it actually shook the TARDIS."

"You're saying that you survived ground zero of a matter-antimatter explosion?" Sam asked. "How?"

"I can't die," Jack replied bluntly. "Or rather, I can't stay dead. Something happened to me a long time ago and it changed me."

Sam took that in. "You're immortal? I didn't think that was possible."

"Yeah, well, believe me, there are times when I really wish it wasn't... like yesterday night. I wasn't kidding that it hurt." He pointed towards the Doctor. "At least now I understand why I can't stay dead. I'd spent the last one hundred forty years looking for him to get an explanation, to see it could be fixed only to find it can't."

Sam considered what the immortal man had said. He was struck with a feeling of deja vu as he recalled that Al had told him he wouldn't live forever and, in some ways, that had been a comforting thought. Now though... if Jack Harkness was immortal... then what did that say for leaping? "Immortality isn't impossible."

Jack looked at Sam, his head tilted slightly. "That's what I just said. No matter how many times I die, I can't stay dead." He noticed the other man's expression. "Why?"

"Just that if immortality is possible, Al's wrong. I could be leaping forever." He acknowledged the Doctor's promise. "That is, if you can't get me home."

"You won't leap forever," the Doctor said gently. "You still age like an ordinary human being. Jack... he was touched by a being who had the power over life and death. That's what makes him immortal." He thought about the person responsible, looking at her aura even as he knew he was talking to Sam Beckett. How he wished Rose was there now. Having been separated from her for over a month, he found himself missing her more and more.

Sam nodded. "I hope you're right," he answered softly.

"Leaping? Immortality?" Margaret said suddenly, a slightly hysterical tone creeping into her voice. "Okay. I was skeptical but accepting of the idea that you and your TARDIS are of alien origin. I'm even willing to accept that I am witness to the results of a matter-antimatter explosion. But immortality? And what the hell does jumping off a cliff or something have to do with immortality?"

Sam went over and took her shoulder. "Not that type of leaping. I'm a scientist, like you. Have you heard of Dr. Samuel Beckett?"

She nodded. "Yes. He went missing about twelve years ago."

The leaper shook his head. "Not missing, exactly. Just not in linear time any longer."

Suddenly the name she'd been introduced to the young woman before her and this story collided. She shook her head. "No. That's not possible. You can't be Sam Beckett. You're a young woman, at most in your early twenties. I've seen pictures of Dr. Beckett and you're not him."

Jack spoke up. "That's not how it works, Margaret. Sam is here but he displaces another person. What you see is his aura. One Rose Tyler. She isn't here, though. She's sometime in the future and in Dr. Beckett's aura." Jack turned to Sam and the Doctor. "Speaking of which, where's Al?"

"Well, the last I saw of the little Italian Chernobyl he returned to Project Quantum Leap to instruct Ziggy to calculate pi to its last digit," the Time Lord replied.

"Why would he do that? I can't see Al pulling away from Sam to do something so completely and utterly pointless."

"Al is being affected by the Pi Network," Sam said dryly. "I was the one who gave him the task."

"Al?" said Margaret weakly, not at all sure she was going to like this newest turn in events.

Glad looked at Margaret. "Al is Sam's invisible friend."

The Australian professor pinched her nose. "I was afraid you might say something like that."

"And, yes, he is being affected," the Doctor agreed. "And since the Master is behind the Pi Network, that means anyone affected by Pi is basically his slave. That also means that Project Quantum Leap could be in danger, especially if Ziggy is no longer calculating pi."

"That could only happen if Al stopped her," Sam said. Suddenly he realized what the Doctor was saying. "Glad's nightmare. Al's at the heart of it, isn't he?" It was said with finality.

"My nightmare yesterday? Al was the one who let the bad man hurt Sam and Jack."

"Let is an awfully strong word, Glad," the Time Lord gently corrected her. "It was more of a case of being unable to prevent it from happening."

"But he was working with him. Don't you remember? He said he was a good man... like Doris did. And he didn't even try to stop him. At least at first."

"It's not his fault anymore than it was Doris' fault that she behaved as she did. Besides, it was a premonition. It hasn't happened yet and it won't happen."

"I still didn't like what he did," Glad stated firmly.

"Me neither," the Gallifreyan admitted. "Hopefully, you won't have more nightmares like that one."

"Nightmares? You're worried about nightmares?" Margaret questioned. "Listen. I'm the first to say I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but I will say, we've got to do something if the meteorite is that anti-matter black hole. Otherwise, none of us may have a future." She looked out at the crater. "Problem is, we have no transportation. My landcruiser isn't likely to return as Jack did." She glared at the immortal man. "You owe the rental agency a new car, Captain."

"Fine. I'll get them a new car," Jack responded. "Right now, I'm beat. Getting blown up by a matter/anti-matter reaction will do that to you. Think we can all get some shuteye?"

"But I'm not tired," Glad stated stubbornly. "I just woke up a little bit ago."

"I don't think I could sleep. Not without an aspirin or something. My head feels like it's going to explode," Margaret stated.

"There's acetametaphine in the medical bay," the Doctor informed. "Jack, would you care to show Maggie here the way? She can sleep in the guest room. Your room is still available... somewhere."

"Margaret. Not Maggie. Margaret," she corrected again. "And do I even want to know what you mean by his room is... somewhere?"

Jack gave her a broad grin. "Come on, Margaret. You're going to love this." He escorted her towards the inner door.

"I reserve the right to disagree if any more weird and bizarre realities present themselves. Condensed black holes, invisible people... I knew when you pushed yourself into my office, it was going to be bad news," she groused as she followed him.

"It's the adventure of a lifetime, Dr. Hawthorne," the ex-Time Agent told her. "Something to tell our grandchildren about." With that, the two disappeared from sight and sound as the door closed behind them.

Sam looked over to the Doctor. "Our? Did he really say our?" The Time Lord just shrugged and Sam gave a wry grin. "Well, they are consenting adults. I think I'd like to do some reading in the library. There are some things I'd like to research."

"Can I come?" Glad queried with bright hopeful eyes.

"No," the Gallifreyan replied to the request. "You are going to bed. You've had a very long day and need your rest."

"But Sam gets to go read in the library," she protested.

"Sam doesn't need as much rest as you," he told her bluntly. "Now, go on. Off to your room."

She frowned at him. "Treating me like a child again," she grumbled as she marched towards the door.

Watching the young girl heading off to bed, Sam smiled slightly. "Bet she'll be reading a book with a lamp under her covers," he murmured to the Doctor.

"No bet," the Time Lord agreed, a grin playing at his lips.

The leaper turned to the Gallifreyan. "How complete is your database? I mean, will there be enough data on late twentieth century non-profits? Will I be able to learn more about the Prometheus Institute?"

The Doctor thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. Could do. The TARDIS does have access to computer systems all over the known universe, though I really wouldn't suggest it considering the circumstances. Still... it's worth a look, I suppose."

"I have the feeling that will be the key to understanding how to attack the Prometheus Institute. We're going to need to get in first so the system can be brought down without causing undue harm to those people that are affected."

The alien nodded in agreement. "See what you can find out. I'll go make sure that my wayward ward actually goes to sleep."

"You're worried about her," Sam said needlessly.

"Aren't you? With all those nightmarish premonitions she's been having, preventing her from getting a good night's sleep for the last few days?"

"Yeah. I am, but I'm worried about you as well. Glad will tire and she'll sleep. She may not like it, but she'll do it. You, on the other hand..."

"I'm all right," the Time Lord told him. "Had plenty of rest while I was healing after our adventure in Peru."

Sam still didn't remember much of that adventure and once more he had the feeling he shouldn't look too deep. "Um. Yeah. And that's good, but if you fall back into old habits, you're just going to cause a repeat."

"My concern for my friends outweighs everything else, Sam. And, as I said before, I don't need as much sleep as the average human. I'm fine. Go do your research and get some sleep. I have a feeling we are going to have a very busy day tomorrow."

"Yeah. You're probably right. Just try to take some of that advice yourself."

The Gallifreyan merely smiled at his words before leaving the console room and heading towards Glad's room. On the way there, however, he found Jack looking around as if he were lost. "Can't find your room?" he questioned with raised eyebrows.

"It wouldn't have been a problem if Margaret had invited me into hers," Jack said still looking around. "We found her room just fine. Once I left there, though, all the passages started to turn into silly string. I think the TARDIS has decided to toy with me, the little vixen. Normally that would be all right but I am tired. Reassembling isn't easy."

"I seriously doubt that she'd be playing games with you considering what you've just gone through, especially since she actually allowed you inside in the first place. I'm not the only one who is uncomfortable around you."

"Yeah," Jack stated. The Doctor had said he was an impossibility and wrong. "Fixed point in time now, huh." He paused. "It's not like I asked for this. Immortality was never my desire. I just wanted to get out while I was still looking good. None of that losing hair and finding it hard to move around. Based on how slow I'm aging I'll be ancient before that could even start to happen. The idea terrifies me."

"Growing old isn't that bad. I turned grey when I hit two hundred. Mind you that was my first incarnation..."

"But you're a Time Lord. You're supposed to live through the ages. I'm human... or at least I was. We're brief candles, strutting our time on the stage. What do I do when I reach a point where I've done everything a thousand times? How do I live through the death of friends and lovers?"

"You keep going," the Gallifreyan told him quietly. "Because you don't have any other choice." It was clear, from his tone, that he was speaking from experience.

"And you don't want to be around?" Jack huffed bitterly. "The one person that might make this bitter pill easier to swallow and I sicken you."

"It's not that, Jack. It's not you. It's me. I can't help it. It's instinct. Looking at you, I want to run as far away from you as possible."

"Exactly."

"But that doesn't mean that I don't still consider you a friend. If I didn't, you wouldn't be here in my TARDIS."

Jack nodded. "To be honest, last night when I finally had eyeballs and a brain to interpret visual signals again and I saw the TARDIS was gone, I believed you'd left." For an instant, it was clear how that had shaken him. "It wasn't just the reassembling that hurt. It was the belief that you'd keep running from me."

The Doctor looked on him with sympathy. "I am sorry that you felt that way. But I promise you, right now, I will never run away from you ever again."

Hope germinated in the immortal human's eyes. "I believe you, Doctor. And I promise I'll give you a reason to want to hold steady."

"Of that, I have no doubt whatsoever. But don't be surprised if you come across me and find me less... amicable." The Time Lord grimaced slightly. "We didn't hit it off very well the first time."

"True enough," Jack grinned. At that moment, they turned a corner in the corridor. "There it is. Even has the same peep hole in the door." The taller man stretched. "I'll bring you your coat back later. Right now, I'm going to get some sleep. From what you've said, the Master is going to be a difficult adversary."

"Always has been before," the Time Lord commented. "Night, Jack."

A second later, just as the head of Torchwood was turning towards his former abode, a scream of terror seeped into the hall, indicating that Galadriel was having yet another nightmare.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 _Just outside of Project Quantum Leap_

 _April 3, 2010_

The wind was rolling along the sage fields as Paul followed Jack's directions. Looking around at the desolate but strangely beautiful landscape, the Iowan asked, "You sure there's something out here... other than rattlesnakes and jackrabbits?"

"Would I take you out into the middle of nowhere without knowing exactly where we were going? Trust me. It's out here," Jack replied.

"Unless he's taking us all on a picnic, that is," Rose put her two cents in.

Jack looked nonplussed. "It was just that one time on Bentilus V!"

"Exactly. Bad enough to get lost on Earth but Bentilus V? You're lucky the Doctor didn't drag you back by your ears, especially since he didn't want to go in the first place."

Grace raised an eyebrow. "I can't imagine the Doctor dragging anyone by their ears."

"He got cranky in that particular incarnation," Jack told her.

"Well, we're not going on a picnic now," Paul pointed out.

Jack pointed to a turn off a little ahead of them. "Take a left there."

Paul followed the directions. A little ways ahead, there was a small guard station. "How are we going to get past them?"

"No worries there," the immortal man said with a broad grin. "Just stop when you're told and leave the rest to me."

Upon reaching the guard station, Paul did as he was instructed and then watched as Jack leaned forward so that his face could be seen through the passenger's side window.

"Hey, fellas! Mind letting us through?" he queried to the guards there.

The guard looked into the vehicle. While there were personnel they knew, there was also a man and woman who were strangers. "Um, sorry Captain Harkness. We'll need to see some paperwork for them," he said nodded to the two unknowns.

"Oh, come on! No need for that. They're good people. I can vouch for them."

"Yes, but we've been asked by Admiral Calavicci to be especially vigilant. He's expecting that nice Harold Saxon sometime today."

"Is he now?" came the response, the pleased tone of his voice not matching the darkening of his blue eyes. "Yeah, I can see how that would warrant additional security." He paused for a moment. "Let me talk to Calavicci," he finally said, stepping out of the vehicle and walking around. "I'm sure he's forgotten exactly who his boss is. Needs a bit of reminding every once in a while." Going to the station, he moved past the guard and started typing away on the computer there. He frowned after a moment. "Blast it. I forgot my glasses. What does this say?" he questioned, pointing at the screen.

The guard moved over to look at the computer screen, a frown on his face. "There isn't..." he started before he felt an arm wrap around his neck. A moment later, he was unconscious.

Jack carefully lowered the man to the floor of the station, releasing his sleeper hold on him. "Sorry, beautiful, but we really need to get on base. And just in case you wake up and decide to get all clever..." He confiscated the guard's radio and yanked the phone from its wall before entering the pass code to open the gate.

The others had been quiet as Jack worked out his issue with the guard. As Jack got back into the Hummer, though, Paul spoke up. "I hope this doesn't land you in Leavenworth."

"Can't do. I'm not US military," Jack replied with a smile. "I'm also the boss. As a friend of mine would say... _Allons-y!_ "

Paul put the vehicle into gear and drove onto the base. Ten minutes late, Jack was pointing to a parking area. The tall head of Torchwood looked at the group. "Is everyone ready?"

"As ready as we ever are going to be," Grace replied. "The only question is, ready for what?"

"From the attitude of the guard and the speed that Saxon has implemented his mind control, we're likely walking into a den of zombies."

"Does this mean we should have brought salt, candles, sewing thread, some rope and chalk?" Rose joked.

"Not those kind of zombies but probably couldn't have hurt," Jack answered back with equal levity as the group walked towards the entrance. "As it is, I have all the ammunition we need. I just need you guys to keep them at bay while I do what I have to do."

"Which is exactly what?" Paul questioned. "You haven't been exactly forthcoming the whole trip on how we're going to stop Saxon from taking over the world."

"Jack's good at coming up with things off the top of his head," Grace pointed out.

"In this case, I actually have a plan," he answered as he entered a passcode into a keypad and placed his palm on a scanner. "But we have to get down to the Control Room first which means..." The entry door opened wide to allow the group through. "Smile. You're on Saxon camera."

The group followed Jack's lead, moving quickly through the facility. Everywhere people were cleaning and making last minute adjustments before their special visitor arrived. It made getting to the Control Room that much easier, although they still had to go through another six layers of security.

Upon reaching the Control Room, Jack walked in, looking around with a slight frown. "Where's Admiral Calavicci?" he questioned Gooshie, who seemed focused on polishing Ziggy's console.

"Oh. You're back, Captain Harkness," the programmer said, clearly concerned more with the console than his boss. "I think he may be in the cafeteria making sure that if Mr. Saxon asks for anything, it will be ready."

Jack forced himself not to roll his eyes. "Of course. Can't let Saxon go without his espresso." He moved over to the console. "Why don't you show my friends around? I'll finish the console."

Gooshie looked at Jack with a slightly distressed visage. "I don't know. I know all of Ziggy's idiosyncrasies. Perhaps I'd better finish?" He looked at the console once again. "I've already shut off the program that Dr. Beckett asked us to run. It just wouldn't do to have her offline when Mr. Saxon arrives."

"Completely understandable. But I also don't think she needs quite as much polish as this," the immortal man pointed out. "You get her any shinier and you'll blind him with the light reflecting off the surface. You should check on the power relays on Level 9, make sure that we don't have any more of those flair ups."

Gooshie considered his words. "That does make sense. I'll do that right away."

"Thanks for that, Gooshie," Jack responded, smiling at him as he watched the programmer leave the room. Once the only ones in the Control Room were him and his friends, the smile dropped. "Now to get to work. I need to shut Ziggy down before all hell breaks loose."

"Wait a minute," Rose said, uncertainty in her voice. "How would shutting down Ziggy stop the Master?" She went to his side to watch what he was doing. "And wouldn't that make me trapped in this time?"

Jack knew Rose understood completely. He had to help her understand that this was a necessary part of the plan. "Yes. You will be trapped. For now. But... I know the Doctor is working on a solution at its source."

"So you keep saying," she responded. "How can I help?"

"And what do we do while you two play electrical engineer?" Grace queried, both she and Paul looking very much like the odd persons out.

"You two I want in the Waiting Room. Rose can show you where that is." He turned to Rose. "You remember where those Fermi suits are?"

"Yeah, in the cupboard just outside the Waiting Room," she started, confusion on her face. "Why are they going to the Waiting Room? And why do they need Fermi suits?"

"They don't need Fermi suits. You do in the off chance that Sam leaps unexpectantly."

"Fair point," she said. "You sure you don't need help with Ziggy?"

"I can repair the TARDIS, Rose. I can certainly deactivate a 20th century parallel-hybrid computer," Jack responded, his attention on his work.

"Right," came the brief response. She gestured to Grace and Paul. "Come with me, then," she instructed, guiding them to the Waiting Room.

While Rose was gone, Jack continued to work, finding a number of roadblocks in placing Ziggy in a semi-permanent offline mode. "Damn it. When did they add these codes?"

"And here, Mr. Saxon, is the heart of the project. The Control Room," a smoke-filled voice flitted through the air as the door opened, interrupting Jack's activities. Al looked up towards the console as he walked in, the Master and his bride following just behind him. "Jack?" he questioned with surprise. "Where's Gooshie?"

Jack stopped with a look of a deer caught in the headlights. Quickly he morphed into his charm mode. "I sent him to check on the power relays on Level 9."

"You," Saxon stated, a shocked look on his face. "It was you!"

Jack looked confused. "Have we met? I mean, other than you attempting to take over my mind through your network?"

"You're not connected to Pi either! I felt you in Cardiff. You stopped me from finishing a task of mine." He grimaced, taking a step back from him with disgust. "What are you?"

"Psychically trained 51st century Time Agents are apparently immune to your insidious mind control techniques."

"You're a Time Agent," the Master summarized.

"Well, I was. Now I'm a free agent."

"An impossible free agent. You're... forever."

"You saying I'm a crazy diamond?" He quipped back...desperately trying to figure out how he could make this go in a different direction than he'd experienced before.

"More like the coal in my Christmas stocking." The Time Lord turned towards Al. "Seize him."

"I know Jack's a bit much to take sometimes but he tends to grow on you," Al stated, unsure of why he was being asked to take Jack prisoner.

Before the Master could reply, Rose walked back into the room, a Fermi suit in her hands. "I got the..." She stopped suddenly. "This isn't Harold Saxon, is it?" she questioned with trepidation in her voice.

Jack suddenly realized his only possible action. While the others were distracted by Rose's arrival, he turned and typed a command into the console. Then pulling an instrument out of his pocket, he quickly set it.

"That's the sonic!" Rose exclaimed, seeing the instrument. "What are you doing with the sonic?"

Hearing Rose's words, the Master's eyes widened. "Seize him! Now!" he shouted, anger filling his tone. "Bring me that device!"

Jack aimed the sonic at the speakers, causing a sharp, high pitched sound to reverberate through the room. As all the humans covered their ears to protect them from the piercing sound, the Master backed away from the impossible man before him. Although the sound was nearly deafening, Jack knew this was his only chance. Rushing towards Rose, he grabbed the Fermi suit in one hand and her hand in the other. "Get another suit and get in the Waiting Room," he ordered, pulling her with him. As they ran, he forced the sonic into her hand. "Use this to lock the door. Hopefully, by the time they get to you, this will all be taken care of."

"What?" she shouted over the sound.

"Don't question... just do, Rose. Waiting Room. Fermi suit. Now!"

"What are you going to do?" she asked as she started to follow his orders.

"Something incredibly stupid," he answered cryptically. "Now, go."

DWQLTWDWQLTW

 _Australian Outback_

 _October 2009_

Had the current inhabitants of the TARDIS been able to see outside the blue box sitting atop the small hill, they would have seen a rather curious mob of kangaroos hopping around it, trying to figure out what the thing was. Instead, the one who'd made his home in the timeship for nearly a millennium walked into his console room stretching, rather surprised that he'd actually gotten a fairly good amount of sleep. He went to check on the TARDIS' status, making sure that everything was running exactly as it should and noticed its telepathic circuits were in need of calibration - not that he ever used them, preferring to pilot the time ship manually. Pulling out his sonic, he went under the console to fix it.

"Good morning, Doctor," a voice called out.

Surprised by the voice in the quiet, the Gallifreyan pulled his head up a little too quickly and hit it on the grated floor above him. "Ow!" he complained, rubbing the top of his head.

"Oh. Sorry," Margaret said moving closer to him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," the Time Lord replied, continuing to tend to his aching noggin. "Just recalibrating the telepathic circuits. Never know when I'm going to need to think my way out of a sticky situation, literally." Seeing the confused look on her face, he clarified, "If I want to, I can just tell the TARDIS where to go telepathically and she goes there. Well, that's the purpose of the circuit anyway. She does have a mind of her own, though."

The Geology Professor considered his words. "Telepathic remote? Interesting. I guess sometimes the commands can get crossed. Happens with Earth equipment all the time."

"Oh, she hears the commands just fine. She's just stubborn," he answered, standing and putting the grate back into place. He gave her a broad grin. "More fun that way."

She laughed. "It's cute how you think of your ship as a thinking being. I had a car like that once. Used to honk its horn without any reason."

"Oi! The TARDIS isn't a car! And how do you know your car didn't have a reason not to toot its own horn?"

"Because, Doctor, cars are mechanical. They don't think."

He seemed flummoxed by her response for a moment. "Good point. But the TARDIS isn't a car. She's a Type 40 TT capsule, having been grown on the Plains of Tranquility and modified with sophisticated Time Lord technology to be able to interact with her pilot."

Margaret smiled again. "Oh, now, you're just pulling my leg."

"Why would you say that?" He seemed genuinely baffled by her skepticism.

"I may not know much about alien technology... in fact, up until yesterday, I didn't even know it existed... but you can't expect me to believe that vehicles actually 'grow' in space."

"She didn't grow in space; she grew on the Plains of Tranquility on my home planet, not the Sea of Tranquility on the satellite orbiting yours."

"And?" she asked as if awaiting a punch line.

Before the Doctor could answer, Captain Jack walked into the room. "You're out of coffee in the kitchen."

"Try the atrium," the Gallifreyan suggested as he circled the console, examining it. "I'm sure there's a coffee plant in there somewhere."

"It'll take days to get coffee when you put it that way," the immortal man groused.

"Not my fault you drank the last cup," came the playful counter-argument.

"If I'd known that was the last cup, I would have saved it 'til this morning. How do you expect me to perform without my morning cuppa?"

"Don't blame me. I'm a tea person. I only had that coffee because you drank it." He paused. "Well, Sam likes it too."

"I like what?" asked the man in question asked as he walked in, kneading his neck and shoulder.

"Coffee... and you look like you want a cuppa as well, based on the way you are abusing your upper extremities."

"I fell asleep in that chair in the library and I had my neck twisted."

"Here," Margaret offered, going over to the leaper. She started to gently massage his shoulders. "The Doctor and I were just discussing where his ship was built."

"Grown," the Time Lord corrected automatically.

"Oh. Right. Grown," she said using her fingers for quotations before resuming her ministration on Sam's shoulders. She smiled. "He tried to get me to believe his ship actually thinks."

"It does," Sam said in agreement.

" _She_ does," Jack confirmed with a grin.

"Yes, Jack's right. The ship's definitely a she." The leaper turned to the Doctor. "No coffee?"

"Jack drank the last cup yesterday," came the blunt response.

"I hope you're not talking about the cocoa," Glad said catching the last of the conversation. "Good morning, everyone."

The Doctor seemed as if he were listening to something unheard for a moment before giving Glad a smile and going to her. "Nope, still got plenty of cocoa. Morning, my dear. Sleep well?" He ignored the odd feeling he was having, telling him that something was going to happen, something... odd.

"Like a rock," she confirmed. "It's funny. I've been having nightmares since we went to Peru... and last night started with one... but it went away. Can't even remember what it was. Strange."

Jack looked at the Doctor knowingly. "Yeah, strange." He started to turn towards the kitchen. "Well, if all we have is t..." He suddenly stopped and a strange look crossed his face.

Sam, closest to Jack and noticing something wrong, moved to his side. "Are you okay?"

Jack blinked for a moment, turning to look at the person who spoke. "Umm... yeah. Yeah, I think so." He tilted his head slightly, a frown growing on his face. "Rose?"

The question instantly caused all in the room to turn their heads towards him in surprise. The Doctor slowly walked towards the clearly confused man, concern showing in his own eyes. "Jack?" he questioned, as if unsure that the person in front of him was his former companion.

"Doctor?" Jack responded, the frown still adorning his visage.

As Jack's actions could be explained by a stroke, Sam moved into check the man's eyes and for other symptoms.

"Sam, I don't think that is wise," the Gallifreyan warned as he reached into his pocket to pull out his sonic screwdriver. His words, however, came too late as the physician was already touching the immortal man.

"What the hell?" Jack said the moment Sam touched him. Instantly on alert, he drew his ever-present firearm and aimed it at the surprised physician. "Will someone tell me what's going on here?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Whoa, Jack," Sam said, putting his hands up in a defensive posture as the current head of Project Quantum Leap aimed a very real Webley Mk. IV, .38/200 calibre revolver. "I know you don't want to hurt either Rose or me. Maybe you should just put that thing away."

"That is an excellent idea," the Doctor agreed, slowly approaching the tense man. "You know how I feel about guns, Jack. Put it away. Let me have a look at you." He wasn't sure what was going on but there was a niggling at the back of his head that was telling him something had changed, even if the man in front of him was still as impossible as ever.

"You're not Rose and you sure as hell aren't the person you're portraying now. How stupid do you think I am?" Jack hissed at Sam. He turned to the Gallifreyan. "You have an Alcamanian onboard, Doctor. Probably trying to steal some of your technology to sell on the black market."

"Alcamanian?" Margaret asked, her voice unable to hide the fear she was feeling at the scene before her.

"A shapeshifter," the Doctor answered the geologist.

"What are you talking about?" Sam questioned. "I'm not an Alcamanian... or shapeshifter or..." Suddenly, he stopped. "You're a leaper."

The Time Lord's eyes widened at Sam's words. "Leaper?" He stared at Jack with incredulity, quickly ascertaining the only possibility based on the evidence at hand. "You used Samuel's project to leap into yourself?!"

Jack looked from one to the other, confusion on his face. "I... don't know?" he answered with a slight whine in his voice.

"Time travel without a stabilizing influence. No vortex manipulator to protect your synapses, no capsule to prevent adverse side effects..." The alien, having reached Jack, gently took the gun from his hand. "You're suffering from amnesia due to the process."

"And... that's why I keep seeing Sam and Rose flip into place?"

Sam fielded that one. "Yeah. I leapt into Rose Tyler so you see her aura... and you've always been able to see me as well for some reason."

"Your psychic training as a Time Agent and your 51st century brain allows you to see things that humans from the 21st century never would," the Doctor added, both for Jack's benefit and Sam's.

Glad looked at Jack for a long moment, not understanding what exactly was being said but getting an odd feeling from her friend. "You're older than you were a minute ago."

"Well, all of us are older than we were a minute ago by definition," Margaret pointed out.

The girl gave her a glare. "I mean older by more than a minute."

Jack's forehead creased. "I look older? Wrinkles? Everything?"

"You look the same as before. You're just... older," she tried to clarify, though it was obvious that she was having trouble understanding the concepts she was attempting to explain.

"Relax, Jack. You still look marvelous," the Doctor stated knowing the man was definitely vain about his looks.

"You think?"

"Well, I wouldn't want your ego to grow any larger than it already is..."

"You saying I have a big head?"

"It's only as big as your heart," came the response.

Glad, still obviously perturbed, touched the Gallifreyan's arm. "He's older than before," she repeated.

"Yes, Glad. I'm aware of that," the Doctor told her gently. "Nothing to worry about. An older version of Jack replaced his younger self, like Sam replacing Rose."

Sam had been quiet since realizing that this was not the same 'Jack' that had been in the room a few minutes before. "So... your 'now' Jack is in the future and you've come back. Why?"

Jack blinked for a moment. "I'm... not sure."

"There has to be a reason." Sam started to pace. He'd gotten a small circuit in before turning back to the other leaper. "Does this have anything to do with Al? The last time he was here he was acting hokey."

"Hokey?" Jack questioned.

The Doctor nodded slowly. "He was praising Harold Saxon."

"Harold Saxon is a good man," came the automatic response. Seeing the stunned look on the other's faces, he frowned. "I keep hearing that phrase in my head and I know it's wrong. What does it mean?"

"It means that... if I understand what everyone seems to think is going on... whatever time you're from, that rat bastard is still screwing up people's heads," Margaret responded.

A look of recollection came to his face. "Al Calavicci," he said suddenly. "Saxon's been screwing up Al's head. He's not human - Saxon, I mean." He ran a hand through his hair, growling. "If only my vortex manipulator hadn't burned out, I wouldn't be going through this! I feel like my brain is made out of custard!" He looked at Sam with commiseration. "How do you put up with it?"

Sam shrugged. "I just thought it was a necessary consequence of time travel until I met the Doctor."

Seeing that the immortal man was greatly troubled, the Gallifreyan pulled Jack over to the Captain's chair, sitting him down in it before placing the former agent's gun on the console and out of the way. "Just take a deep breath and relax," he beckoned. "It'll come to you. Saxon is the Master, a Time Lord like me. He created the Pi Network and is using it to manipulate people into his will. You just indicated that he got to Albert."

As the Doctor talked, Jack listened intently. "A Time Lord? I thought you were the last?"

"I'd explained that to you before," the alien said gently. "The Master hid his presence from me; I wasn't aware of him until recently. I need you to focus, Jack. Try to remember why you leaped into yourself."

"Okay." Jack said. "I could sure use some coffee to clear my head."

"Will a cup of tea do? Afraid we're all out of coffee," the alien told him, humor in his voice.

"Yeah. Sure. Tea's fine." As the Doctor instructed Glad to retrieve the beverage, the ex-Time Agent tried to think. Finally, he let out a frustrated breath. "I've got nothing. It's like there's a connect-the-dots picture but I'm not far enough along to see what it is."

"I know the feeling," Sam stated. "Give it time... at least something should come back to you sooner than later."

Sighing slightly in frustration, the Doctor ran his hand over his mouth. He wondered briefly if looking into Jack's mind would help but decided against it simply because such a connection was tricky when a person was fully aware of their memories, much more so if those memories were scattered like seeds in a garden. Besides which, Jack having been a trained Time Agent, he had mental barriers that could go up without even a by-your-leave and that would only complicate things. "We'll just have to wait for something to crop up, then," he commented, going back to the console. "Until then, we need to start making plans on exactly how we are going to get to the Master before he finishes his plans for global conquest, which, from Jack's words, seems to be well on its way sometime in the future."

"Come on, Jack. Let's go get that cup of tea," Sam started. "I'm sure Glad has it ready by now."

As Jack stood up to follow Sam, he suddenly blurted out. "Al's given the Project over to Saxon."

Sam stopped in mid-stride and joined the Doctor and Margaret in staring at Jack with surprise. "What?" He shook his head. "I don't believe it. Even under mind control Al couldn't do that."

"You were in Melbourne before you came out here, weren't you?" the Doctor questioned Margaret, seemingly from out of nowhere.

"Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You have friends there, yes? How were they behaving?"

"They were really going on about Harold Saxon but..." Suddenly her face fell. "It's that Pi Network you've been talking about."

The Doctor nodded. "Thanks to the Pi Network, sometime in the near future, the Master will control the hearts and minds of nearly every human being on the planet." He looked at Sam pointedly. "And that includes Albert. Whether he wishes to or not, he won't have any choice but do as the Master instructs. So, yes, he would hand your project over to him."

"I just never thought that Al would go that far with all the things he faced before. I know we saw it happening with Doris Lethbridge-Stewart and Al when he..." Sam started. He suddenly stumbled and stepped back as if unsteady. "Something's wrong. I think I feel a leap building." He swallowed. "But this doesn't feel right."

"What's wrong?" the Doctor questioned, looking at the Leaper with concern. "Sam?" Seeing the expression on the latter's face, his own face dropped. "Oh, Sam. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What?" Sam started and then was pulled convulsively, Rose's image being pulled out of sync. He cried out loudly, his arms wrapping around himself protectively. "Gawd, it hurts!"

Jack watched as Sam was held in some kind of beam or something worse. "What's wrong, Sam? How can we help?"

Blowing out the pain as best he could, Sam shook his head raggedly. "I don't think you can..." He started, each word a chore to express. Suddenly, he knew what this was. "Like Zoe and Alia!..." Another wave hit him. "Lothos!" he screamed.

The Doctor winced with empathy, kneeling beside Sam but not touching him. A tear escaped his eye as he watched his friend scream.

"You're just going to kneel there? Do something!" Jack ordered, moving to act on his own words.

Sam looked at the Doctor, sadness in his eyes. "Stop them," was all he said before his eyes closed and his body tensed for the last time. A moment later, Rose's face took on its owner in repose.

There was silence as the Gallifreyan closed his eyes, not moving for a long moment. Taking a breath, he opened his eyes, reached over, and felt for the pulse of the young woman returned to him in the one way he had never wanted. Noting her strong heartbeat, he sighed with relief in spite of the tears on his cheeks.

Jack looked on, not seeing the flip he'd seen before between Sam and Rose, understanding that somehow something had changed. "Where is Sam, Doctor?"

Margaret rushed to the collapsed girl's side, worried and confused as she gazed on the Gallifreyan who didn't seem to be doing anything to help. "Sam's right here in front of you. What I want to know is what's wrong with him. Aren't you at all concerned, Doctor?"

"More than you can possibly understand, Margaret," the Time Lord answered. "For the moment, it is sufficient to say that... he's no longer in the aura of Rose Tyler." He gently brushed the hair away from Rose's face, a mixture of sadness and relief on his visage.

"Then, if that's not Sam, who is it?" the woman queried wondering how she managed to fall smack in the middle of wonderland.

"She is exactly who she appears to be. Rose Tyler," the Doctor responded. "And she needs as much rest as possible." Carefully, he lifted Rose into his arms, cradling her close as he carried her through the TARDIS and into her bedroom, Margaret and Jack following. Laying her gently on her bed, he made sure that she was properly covered before turning to his companions. "Margaret, would you stay with her? Make sure she's okay?"

Gaining an affirmation from the still befuddled geologist, the Gallifreyan exited the bedroom and started back towards the console room, the expression on his face telling him that his mind was buzzing from all that had happened in the last few minutes. A run in with Glad, who was returning from the kitchen with a large mug of tea, had the Time Lord redirecting her to Rose's room for the time being, knowing that Margaret needed the tea now far more than Jack did.

Once Jack and the Doctor had returned to the console room, the ex-Time Agent spoke. "There's more you're not saying. Rose is back. That means that Sam's leapt but, according to all the files I've read, the way he leapt out was all wrong. What's going on, Doctor?"

The Gallifreyan looked at him with sad eyes. "I've seen some of this before. Assuming that Glad's dream is true, it's started. The Master obviously retrieved Sam back to the Project and completed his takeover of Quantum Leap. And if that is true, then Sam is very likely dead."

"What?!" Jack said. "Dead?" He bit at his lip. "I leapt back here because of Saxon taking over. You think he has a way to retrieve Sam, I assume." Another small piece of the puzzle fell into place. "He'll go back to the Waiting Room. Dr. Holloway is there..."

"Dr. Holloway? Who's Dr. Holloway?" the Doctor interrupted, concern playing across his features.

"Grace Holloway. I can't remember how I meet her right now," he said still trying to figure things out. He sighed in frustration. "Dr. Beckett was nuts to step into his Accelerator."

"Grace?! You got Grace involved in this?!" the Time Lord exclaimed, stunned by his words. "Jack, the Master knows Grace! If she's in the Waiting Room at Samuel's project, he's bound to..." He ran a hand through his hair, pacing frantically around the console. "Jack, he'll make life hell for her! Why did you get her involved? How do you even know her?"

"I don't remember!" the immortal man countered with equal vehemence. "I just know that... we've got history together." At the Doctor's continued glance, he threw up his hands. "History that I bloody well don't remember right now." He blinked, another memory. "I gave Rose the sonic. She's locked them in the room. At least I hope she did before she leapt back."

"All that does is delay him," the Gallifreyan groused as he continued his pace. He stopped abruptly when something Jack said suddenly filtered into his mind. "Wait a minute. Sonic? As in my sonic? Jack, how did you get the sonic screwdriver?"

Jack shugged. "Don't know... but it's the reason I'm here now."

The Doctor groaned in frustration. "Why didn't you just use that vortex manipulator of yours instead of that project? I wouldn't be playing one thousand questions now if you had."

"It's broken. Has been since I made it back to Earth after Game Station."

"A hundred and forty years and you never fixed it? You had the sonic," the former complained before exhaling and shaking his head.

"I don't think I had the sonic then..." Jack said, still not sure about a lot of things.

"We're obviously getting off track here. Point is, the Master's successfully taken over Quantum Leap. Based on what I saw in Glad's dream, that means that he's also have control over ninety percent of the population of the Earth."

Jack thought about that. "That sounds about right." After a moment, though, confusion plagued his face. "Wait a minute. You keep mentioning a dream. What dream?"

"The dream Glad had a couple of nights ago. She dreamt about the Master taking over Project Quantum Leap, you being tortured... and Rose dying," he finished quietly.

"But Rose is here. You think she's injured? Maybe we should go back and have her checked in the medical bay."

"She's fine at the moment," the Time Lord assured him. "That isn't to say she will be in the future, especially if the history that you came from actually comes to pass. And, as I promised, I'm not going to let that happen."

Blinking at the seeming contradiction, he stated, "I'm not sure I follow."

"Blimey, leaping without properly set parameters really does things to the mind, doesn't it. You've obviously forgotten everything that only happened in the last twenty-four hours. Well, twenty-four hours from my perspective. For you, it could have been years. You've obviously forgotten that Galadriel is clairvoyant."

"Who's Galadriel?"

"The girl?" the Doctor said as a reminder. "We call her Glad."

"Oh. Right."

"As I was saying, she's clairvoyant and as such her dreams may be prophetic. We witnessed a dream that showed what would happen if the Master succeeds in his conquest of the Earth. And it isn't pretty. A lot of good people will die."

As if the reminder triggered something, Jack breathed out, "Ianto..."

"Yes." The Doctor looked into Jack's eyes surprised by the depth of feeling for the man. "He means a lot to you."

"He does. Someone... Saxon's wife? She's going to... torture him... and another." He paused. "Sam called out... Lothos. That name sounds familiar."

"According to Sam, there is a force working against the good he is doing in his leaps. Said that there are leapers making wrong what once was right and that they are controlled by someone named Lothos," the Doctor informed him, knowing that Jack probably knew more than he did about that person but couldn't access the memory well.

"Right." He paused. "You will find a way to stop all this, right? Everything you saw in this dream. You always find a way to make sure evil doesn't triumph." The head of Torchwood knew it wasn't logical but it was always what happened.

"Well, obviously I don't otherwise you wouldn't have leaped into yourself," the Doctor bemused, finding a seat on the Captain's chair. "I mean, with you leaping into yourself and with Glad's prophetic dreams, how can I be sure that my actions here don't actually cause the prophecy to come true?" He sighed. "I never did like prophesies. Too easy to cause them to come true if you know too much. My course was certain before you leapt in - infiltrate the Master's holdout, disengage the Pi Network, ensure neither the Master nor Lothos will be a bother again - but now..." He looked at the ex-Time Agent with ponderous eyes. "There has to be a reason you leaped other than to tell us the Master has already won. So, you tell me: what do I need to do to stop him? Because if it didn't work the first time around - and that's assuming this is the first time around - then I haven't a clue."

Jack took in a troubled breath. "I'm just not fully certain. I know that I tried to protect Torchwood and Rose... and..."

The Doctor seemed lost in a trance for a moment, obviously deep in thought. "'The Eternal Man may reset the course of the dream time,'" he quoted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Something an Aborigine clairvoyant told me. I first thought that I was the Eternal Man but then you showed on my doorstep. You're the Eternal Man. Which means that you are the key to the solution." He gave him a pointed look. "You are the Director of Project Quantum Leap. You can stop him from taking over your project."

"I don't know what I can do. I've got holes in my brain now and what I do remember is all jumbled up."

The Time Lord looked at him for a long moment before giving a sound that could have been mistaken for pain. "Oh, I'm going to regret this," he mumbled, stepping towards Jack. "I can probably restitch those neuron holes and give you back some of your memory."

"You mean get in my head, connect our minds," Jack summarized what he understood was going to happen, although he would be hard pressed to tell someone how he knew. "You sure you want to, given that I'm so... wrong?"

The Doctor grimaced slightly. "You would remember that." He took a breath. "It's not something I like to do but it seems I've been doing it a lot lately. It won't be an easy task on either of us but it obviously needs to be done."

"Yeah. Like you said, who knows how many times we've had this time loop."

"Well... not my exact words but that was the general point." He gave him a grin. "Ready?" Gaining a nod, he moved his hands to Jack's temples. "If there's something you know you don't want me to see, imagine a door..."

"I know the basic rules of telepathic contact, Doctor," Jack reminded him.

"Right," the Time Lord said with a breath. Closing his eyes, he started his journey into the immortal man's mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The Doctor had placed his hands onto either side of the ex-time agent's head. His first reaction upon entering Jack's mind was to retreat back into himself, the impossibleness of his friend kicking at his Time Lord instincts. It took several moments for him to get passed his own fears and continue in search of those portions that needed to be mended together. As he did so, however, he noticed that there were larger gaps than he had anticipated, prompting the necessity to be much more meticulous in his restoring the connections that should have been there. He could see Jack as he was only a few months before, teasing Al about something that involved overcooked linguine (which the Italian vehemently denied). There were images of him at Torchwood, feeling proud of his team. A happy marriage with a beautiful woman. Good things. Then as he continued to find the threads to put things back, he found himself in areas of pain. Walking into the Hub and finding all his colleagues dead except his boss only to be given leadership over the organization. Forcing himself to give away twelve orphans to an alien race the humans called the 456, rationalizing that it was the only way to protect the majority of Earth's population and obtain the vaccine needed. Watching as Jack woke up in the lair of the early Torchwood agents and being tortured and blackmailed into doing their dirty work. He could sense Jack's disgust at what he saw as a necessary evil. The worst, however, was every time he came back after being killed, especially that first time on Ellis Island, not understanding how it was he survived being shot. There was something else, though. A large hole, unforgiving in its presence and bigger than the rest. Instantly, he realized that this gap held the memories the Time Agency had blocked from access in his mind. Two years of his life.

"I can stitch that part of your life too, Jack," he whispered. "If you want."

Jack understood instantly what his friend was talking about. He considered how often he'd wondered what was inside that figurative lockbox the Time Agency had placed inside his head and was torn. He didn't like the fact that there was a missing part of him but, at the same time, he'd heard enough rumors and remembered enough of his old life before meeting the Doctor that it terrified him what he might find there. "Can I take you up on that later?" he asked nervously.

"If you want," came the response. "I can only unlock the box. It's up to you whether or not you want to open it."

"Yeah, and if it's a Pandora's box, I won't be able to get anything I have to deal with locked away again. If I'm the one that's going to have to stop the Master now, better not to put any temptations in my head that could put my mission at risk."

The Time Lord smiled at his words. "I agree. You've got enough cowboys in your head as it is." Slowly opening his eyes, he lowered his hands and looked into Jack's bright blue orbs. "Did what I could. Still a bit of a mess in there but you can figure the rest out on your own without me. Probably will have a bit of a headache for a while too."

"No kidding," Jack answered not unkindly. Giving his newly adjusted memories a whirl, he licked at his lips. "I know the power went down... I had them use a Trilirian energy bar..."

"What were you doing with a Trilirian ener..." the Time Lord started but, seeing Jack's face, he waved the question away. "Sorry. Interrupting. Go on."

"Thank you. Anyway, the energy bar eventually blew when..." His eyes widened. What he'd seen when trying to access Ziggy now made sense. "They were going to leap the project programmer back into Sam after they lost contact with him. The Trilirian energy bar wasn't compatible with the energy feed to the radium ring and almost everything went down."

"How would that have allowed the Master to take over?"

"I'm just extrapolating here, but if the power was that severely affected, they'd have to bring someone in from outside to fix it."

"Which would have opened up Quantum Leap to the influence of Pi," the Doctor concluded. "Apparently, Jack, Project Quantum Leap's computer was a key to completing the Master's plan of world domination. We keep PQL secure, Sam won't be leaped back and he'll be able to help us to stop the Master and Lothos, given that he knows more about Lothos than I do. That and it will keep Rose safe, since she would still be back at Quantum Leap."

"If saving Quantum Leap will stop these bastards, then I'll do anything - and I do mean anything - to do it," the eternal man stated.

"Good," the Time Lord told him firmly. He put his hand on Jack's shoulder, escorting him towards the door. "We'll take this from two fronts then. You take care of Project Quantum Leap; I'll deal with the Prometheus Institute in Australia. But first I have to go on a little trip."

The head of Torchwood frowned. "What are you going to do?"

"Going to go to Brazil and look for a very difficult to find plant. With the right synthesis, I could create an agent which causes temporary paralysis to ensure that the Master is captured without too much violence. If that doesn't work, we'll have to resort to Plan Two."

"And Plan Two is...?" The words trailed with the question inherent in the sound. He pulled open the door and walked out into the open space of the outback.

"Haven't planned that far yet." The Doctor gave Jack a smile as he followed him. "You know me. Think on my feet. Probably would have something to do with coordinating with you so I need a means of contacting you if necessary." He clicked his fingers. "Rose's mobile. Unless you are planning on changing your number in the next... what?... seven or eight months?"

"Not a chance. I've still got a year on my contract," Jack said tongue in cheek.

"Gotta save those pounds. Every penny counts."

"Yeah. Something like that." Jack paused. "Anyways, I should probably get started."

"Yeah. Good luck, Jack."

Jack started to walk away from the TARDIS but stopped about three strides in. He turned back to his friend. "Problem is... I don't have the slightest idea of how to get out of here. As I recall, the Land Rover was destroyed in a matter/antimatter explosion, which poses another problem. Got any suggestions?"

"I could drop you off in Cardiff on the way to the Amazon jungle. Planning on taking Margaret back to Melbourne anyway. What's another extra trip?"

"That could work," the ex-Time Agent agreed. "Of course with that many starts and stops, you're likely to have the TARDIS overshoot one of those time and destinations significantly."

"Oi! When did I ever take you to the wrong time and place?"

"February 9, 1964," Jack stated bluntly. "You took us to 1764 and it certainly wasn't New York City. And Rose and I _really_ wanted to see the Beatles live on the Ed Sullivan Show."

"It was only that one time," the Doctor protested. "That and 1869 with Rose. And I was a bit off that first trip with her..."

"Exactly... and I'm sure those were not the only time in all your years of travel. Perhaps I should take Margaret with me. Then you can just head for Brazil."

Before the Time Lord could answer, both Jack and he noticed an aboriginal male walking towards the rise where the TARDIS was sitting. The man looked to them and waved. He was obviously on his way to greet them.

"Is that the guy you were telling me about? The one that called me 'the Eternal Man?'"

"Never seen him before in my life," the Doctor replied, confusion on his face.

"Huh," Jack commented, clearly prepared for action should it be necessary.

As the young man approached, he called out, "Berega sent me to help the Eternal Man."

The Doctor turned his head towards the Aborigine. "And you are?"

"I am Nego. Berega said that I should come and help lead him from this land."

The Gallifreyan looked wise. "And Berega saw this in his dreamtime, I suppose."

Nego shook his head. "No. Berega saw the Land Rover which brought him to our land blow up. He figured that the Eternal man could use some help."

"Well, he was right about that." Jack turned to the Doctor. "So, who takes Margaret?"

A feminine voice called from the TARDIS. "No one _takes_ me, Captain Harkness. I'm not a commodity to flip for."

"That's not what I meant," Jack quickly stated. "It's just that the Doctor's about to leave for Brazil and I need to make sure I'm in New Mexico at the right time."

"I thought we have a couple of megalomaniacs ready to take over the Earth and you two are planning vacations?" Margaret asked incredulously. "What rubbish is that?"

"I wouldn't exactly call hunting for rare plants in the Amazon rainforest a holiday..." the Doctor started.

"Oh... excuse me. A greenie expedition then. You want me to lend you my butterfly net as well? Might want to collect some of those while you're at it." She started to pace. "Strewth! I thought you actually cared for those Sheilas in your box there!"

Jack looked at Margaret with narrowed eyes. "Hey. Maybe you should get all your facts straight before you start assuming... and I'll have you know the Doctor cares for all his companions... and not like you're implying."

As the words grew hotter, Nego moved physically behind the Doctor, staying out of the fray.

"What?" Margaret asked, confused by Jack's words. "I don't know why you spit the dummy but all I'm saying is _you_ told me that Harold Saxon is planning to take over the world, I saw with my own eyes what happened between Sam and Rose and, from what Glad tells me, she believes you both to be men of honor and not a couple of wusses."

"You're calling _me_ a wuss? A _wuss_? I may be a lot of things... some of which I'll answer gladly to... but a wuss isn't one of them, sister!"

The Doctor raised his hands in an effort to halt the argument that was brewing. "Hold it, now! Both of you! No fighting! Can't stand fighting, especially when I have no idea what started the argument in the first place."

Jack turned to the Gallifreyan. "She called Rose and Glad sheilas and you and me wusses. I'm not sure what a greenie is but that didn't sound too nice either. I think that's enough provocation to be justifiably miffed."

"And what's a sheila?" the alien questioned, ignoring the other term for a moment.

"A girl!" Margaret answered vehemently.

"A tart!" Jack stated at the same time.

The two of them looked at each other, stunned by their replies. "What?!" they both exclaimed simultaneously.

The Doctor sighed at their responses. "Obviously there has been a cultural conflict concerning colloquialisms so I suggest that we all desist from using anything other than those words in common with all English-speaking cultures, whether Australian or British."

"You are a wise man, Time Father," Nego said, nodding in agreement.

"Thank you," he answered before refocusing his attention on his current companions. "Now... what exactly is the problem between you two? Margaret, you were commenting on my decision to go to Brazil."

"I just don't see how going off to hunt roots is going to do anything to stop Saxon from completing his conquest. I don't particularly relish the idea of that whacker taking on the role of emperor."

"Plants, not roots," the Time Lord corrected. "And he won't, especially once I've acquired the plants I need. I plan on obtaining some compounds from those plants that when properly mixed will provide a potent potion that will promptly put the Master... Saxon to you... to into a paralytic state."

"Permanently, I hope," she commented with a grumble.

The Gallifreyan's eyes grew dark. "Never say that again. Is that understood?"

She blinked at the sudden change in demeanor. "Um. Yes," she responded more meekly than usual. However, her natural inclination to speak her mind came to the fore. "But I don't understand why. From what I've been told, that mongrel wouldn't blink twice from permanently ending a significant portion of the population of Earth. You're saying he doesn't deserve the same?"

"You are better than him," came the firm answer.

Jack spoke next. "I understand your anger, Margaret, but the Doctor's right. If we do to him what he'd do to us then we're no better." He looked back at the Gallifreyan. "But, if we can't stop him any other way, I'm not going to stand by and let him take over the Earth. I'll give him one chance to surrender but then..."

The Time Lord didn't respond to the immortal man's statement, just giving him an unreadable look before turning back to Margaret, his demeanor lightening. "In order to stop the Master, Jack and I are taking the attack from two fronts. He's going to go back and prevent him from taking over Samuel's project while I am going to act here in Australia just as soon as I have procured the compound I need to take him into custody." He scratched the back of his head. "It would be easier if I had an assistant. I mean, I have Rose and Glad but neither of them has ever really worked with chemicals."

"Then the original question is answered," Margaret stated quietly, her anger dissipated now that she understood the plan. "I'll be traveling with you, Doctor."

"And why is that?" he questioned. Without the need for an explanation, realization came over his face. "Right. Geologist. You have experience with laboratory work."

"I do and, since my minor was chemistry, I think I can help out with your work."

"Okay, that's settled," Jack stated. "Well, you have your plants to find and I have to get to the coast... or an airport at least."

The Doctor nodded in agreement before his eyes widened slightly as if remembering something. "You'd better take this," he stated, reaching into his inner pocket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver. "You know... wibbly wobbly timey whimey..."

"Yeah. It sure came in handy the last time through," the immortal man, taking it from his friend. "Hopefully this time we'll be able to defeat them."

Nego blinked and said to Jack, "Berega has seen that you are the center. If you stop the shining blue ball from falling to the evil ones, hope exists. If not, then all is lost."

Jack looked at the young man. "He's seen Ziggy?" he asked.

"He has seen what he has seen," the native man stated. "Now we have a long way to go." He turned to the Doctor. "It's been an honor to meet you, Time Father."

The Doctor smiled softly at the Aborigine. "And you, Nego. Take good care of my friend here." He gave the tribesman a small bow of his head. The Time Lord then pulled Jack into his arms and held him tightly, almost protectively, before slowly letting him go. "Promise me you'll be careful."

Taking strength from the Doctor's embrace, he answered with forced cockiness, "I will. After all, if I'm all that can keep the world from falling into disaster, then there's no way I'm going to fail." With a wink, he turned and followed Nego into the darkness.

Smiling at Jack's words, the Gallifreyan watched until he couldn't see his friend anymore. Then, turning, he and Margaret went back into the TARDIS. A moment later, the sound of a strange engine filled the country as the Type 40 time capsule vanished.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - Timeline 1**

 _Warning! If you thought this was getting confusing before... it's going to become a REALLY bumpy ride. It's that wibbly wobbly stuff. To help you, dear reader, to understand what is going on, we have named the different timelines going on at the same time (Timeline One and Timeline Two, ignoring all the other timelines not acknowledged in detail after this chapter, including dreamtimes). We hope it makes sense after we've finished it all. Trust us. It will all be revealed... just ignore the man behind the curtain and go with the flow._

ooooooo

 _Timeline One_

 _Just after Jack left Australia to return to Project Quantum Leap_

The Doctor finished his activities at the console with a flourish. "Now, then, Dr. Maggie Hawthorne. Just a quick stop to this lovely little planet I know and then off to the Amazon for that plant."

"Please, Doctor. If we're going to work together, I would really prefer you call me Margaret."

"What's wrong with Maggie? I know a lot of Maggies. Maggie Thatcher, Maggie May, Maggie Moo's! Love Maggie Moo's! We should stop for ice cream at Maggie Moo's! Would you like that? Maggie Moo's?"

"You're mental, you know that?"

The Gallifreyan just gave her a wide grin. "No ice cream?"

"It's fine in its place but right now, we're supposed to be working on saving the world. I think the ice cream can wait."

"There's always time for ice cream," he contradicted. "Still, I suppose you're right. I mean, we may be in a fantastic spacetime ship that can go anywhere and anywhen but we still have to stay relative to the Master in the causal nexus."

"And what the bloody hell does that mean?"

"We can't waste too much time and I can't go back in time to affect this situation. It's all wibbly wobbly..." He took a breath.

"What does drinking have to do with this?" she asked. "You're not a screamer are you?"

He paused, glancing at her with a frown. "Only when I have to be," he finally answered, his expression showing from his point of view the question had come out of nowhere without context.

"What?" she asked confused.

He looked at her with equal confusion. "You asked me if I screamed."

"I asked if you're a screamer," she clarified.

"Exactly. And I answered." He paused. "Maybe you should explain what you meant because I'm not getting it."

"You're not getting it? You were the one that started this. You said it to Jack and just now to me."

"Said what? Screamer?"

"No. Wobbly."

"Wibbly wobbly timey whimey. So?"

She looked at him as if he was dense. "Wobbly? Drunk?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You and your Australian colloquialisms," he grumbled as he moved around the console, inputting information. "I thought the Americans were bad. Or the French." He seemed to be focused on the console for a long moment before tilting bodily to see Margaret, who was now on the opposite side of the console as him. "Screamer?"

"Right... if you're wobbly I just wondered if you were a party person." When he continued to look at her for an explanation, she continued. "'Two pot screamer?' Doesn't take much to get there? It would sure explain a lot."

Suddenly, a wave of understanding changed the Gallifreyan's visage as he finally understood what the Australian woman was saying. "I should have gotten used to these colloquialisms when Tegan was aboard," he commented to himself. Turning to her, he gazed into her eyes. "I am not prone to excessive drunkenness. I'm not prone to any drunkenness. I'm a Time Lord. We don't get drunk," he told her bluntly. Under his breath, he added quietly, "... often." He then continued in a more normal pitch. "And I wasn't referring to drunkenness when I said wibbly wobbly timey whimey. It's just... well... it's the most effective means of describing the complexities of time travel."

"A different meaning then," she inferred.

"Yes. Which is precisely why I said that it would be wise not to use colloquialisms," he told her. Suddenly, the TARDIS jolted, causing Margaret to jump and the Doctor to frown with concern. "That isn't supposed to happen," he commented as he moved around the console, checking readings. His eyes widened slightly at what he discovered. "But... that... that's impossible! Over the entire Earth?"

"What's over the entire Earth? And do you mean to tell me we've been travelling? Already? I didn't feel any G-forces or anything."

"It's a time machine; it doesn't create G-forces," he told her with irritation as he moved around the console again in an attempt to find a way past the obstruction. Finally, he growled in anger, hitting the console with his palm and then kicking it before slumping into the Captain's Chair. "I can't get through. How did he do it? I mean, if it were just Australia, that's one thing..." His eyes widened slightly and then dimmed. "Hotel California," he sighed, deflating physically.

Margaret started to say something but stopped considering his explanation. Finally she stated firmly, "Definitely crackers. What a 1970's American pop song has anything to do with..."

"'You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave,'" the Doctor quoted.

"Oh. Then, am I to understand that you're saying we can't get off the planet?"

"That is exactly what you are to understand. The Master's Pi Network satellites are obviously far more complicated than I originally thought. Even though he hasn't put all of them up as yet, the ones he has in orbit are creating a transduction barrier around the Earth, preventing the TARDIS from leaving the planet and even this time period."

"Transduction barrier?"

"Basically, a force field that protects a planet. Apparently, the Master has set this transduction barrier to prevent ships from leaving - specifically, my ship. I can't leave Earth, I can't travel through time. Stuck here on Earth for who knows how long." He gave her a pointed look. "I feel like I've been exiled all over again."

"Exiled. Right," she answered not at all sure she wanted to know about that little piece of the alien's story. She paused, thinking. "Can we get to the Amazon?"

"As long as it is within the same time period as when we left," he replied. He sighed. "Good thing I don't need silphium this time."

"Okay," she said slowly. "No silphium, whatever that is. We'll just find a nice little spot in the rainforest and find whatever it is you do need."

"I suppose," he answered, anger filtering into his voice. He couldn't help but think about the first dream he'd witnessed, the one in which Rose was brutally murdered in front of him.

"I don't see why you're as cross as a frog in a sock. We were going to go to the Amazon anyway... and as you said... the wibbly stuff. There really isn't reason to leave the planet or this time period, is there? We'll just be able to focus on making the knock out drops for the psychopath."

"I was taking Rose and Glad somewhere they would be safe from him!" the Time Lord told her vehemently. "I need to make sure that they are safe!"

Margaret blinked his mercurial change in attitude. "You don't need to be spewin' at me, Doctor," she returned. "If the TARDIS didn't get blown to kingdom come when Jack mixed the matter and anti-matter, I sincerely doubt they'll be in any danger in the Amazon!"

He gave a chuckle that had absolutely no humor in it. "Oh, you are so thick! I'm not talking about the Amazon; I'm talking about after and what may happen to everyone and everything I care about. Rose and Glad aren't going to just stay in the TARDIS while Jack and I go save the Earth, no matter how much I beg them."

The Australian professor looked at the man, not at all happy with being called stupid but realized that his anger was coming from fear of what could happen. If the things she's seen over the past few days were any indication, she could understand his concern. Her words and expression turned soft. "Then you, Jack, and I will just have to make sure that we succeed and the thing you fear doesn't happen. You have to believe that Rose and Glad can still be kept safe or you're really going to drive yourself fruit loops."

He took a deep breath. "Better me being fruit loops than the Master capturing his lucky charms." Standing abruptly without explaining his words, he readjusted the coordinates on the console. "Right. Got to get some plants."

DWQLTWDWQLTW

Once he had assured that the TARDIS was on course to the Amazon rainforest and that there was little to be done until they materialized, the Doctor invited Margaret to have a look around the TARDIS - "But don't touch anything!" - while he made his way to Rose's bedroom, wanting to check on his long-awaited companion. When he walked into the door, he couldn't help but smile as he listened in on the conversation that was currently in progress between Rose and Glad.

"...and after the picnic, the Doctor taught me how to swim in an indoor lake," Glad was telling the slightly older woman, a bright smile on her face. "I love swimming. Sam said that I'm like a dolphin. Never seen a dolphin but I'm told it's a creature that lives in the ocean."

"You really like it here on the TARDIS, don't you?" Rose questioned, returning the smile.

"Oh, it's brilliant!" the girl agreed. "Well, it can be scary but, most of the time, it's just so... so... wonderful!"

Rose nodded. "Yeah. It is. I've missed it." She paused. "And the Doctor got along well with... Sam, you say." The way she said it was as if she were trying to find some piece of information not being asked for directly.

"Oh, yes. Got a bit annoying at times, though. When they argued, they _argued_ ," Glad agreed. "But mates do that, don't they?"

"I suppose they do..." Rose trailed off as if thinking about what this all meant.

Seeing that the conversation gained a lull, the Doctor decided that it was the most opportune time to cut in. "I see you two have met," he greeted, smiling gently as he walked into the room.

Rose turned suddenly to the door. For a moment, she searched him with her eyes but then a smile broke out on her face. "Doctor!"

"What? Don't I get a hug? Haven't seen you in months and all you have to say is my name?" he teased. Seeing her jump to her feet and rush to him, he enveloped her tightly, laughing as he twirled her around and then set her back on her feet. "You look good. I see Jack hasn't spoiled you too badly."

"Get off!" she told him, slapping him on the shoulder. The two laughed again at the friendly banter before they trailed into just smiles.

"Seriously, though, Rose. I've missed you," he finally told her.

"Me too. You have no idea. It was horrible... well, at least parts of it were horrible. Especially at first when I didn't remember anything. The people there were kind but all I wanted was to see you." She paused. "Why didn't you come?"

"Well, I would have if I'd known when and where you were!" the Gallifreyan defended.

"He wouldn't tell you?"

"Depends on which he you are referring to. Sam hadn't a clue where he came from, Albert was as closed lipped as a Grenaxi seaclam, Jack too for that matter. Something about it being against Sam's rules of time travel or such nonsense."

"Jack _talked_ with you and he didn't say anything?" The hurt look on her face came back in force. "He'd do that to me?"

He put his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "I'm sure that he had his reasons, Rose, and that those reasons probably had something to do with protecting you."

"He didn't want time to go wibbly wobbly," Glad suddenly stated, a faraway look on her face. Seeing the Doctor and Rose stare at her, she shied away slightly. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. Papa always said that I tended to speak when I should be keeping my mouth shut."

"It's all right, Galadriel. If you have something to say, you can always speak your mind around me. You know that," the Doctor assured her, though the look in his eyes was one of interest in the girl's words.

Rose had thought about what the Doctor had told her about Jack. "He was rather protective and insisted that the Admiral treat me special. Ziggy said that was most unusual."

"It's because you are the flower that brought him to life," Glad told her. "A wolf in rose petals."

"How would you know that?" Rose asked. She turned to the Time Lord. "Did you tell her what happened?"

"I didn't tell her about Bad Wolf, no," the Doctor answered gently. "Glad is a clairvoyant and is slightly psychic. She knows Jack can't die but she doesn't know how that happened. And apparently, you do," he noted. "Jack told you, didn't he?"

Rose nodded. "He had to. Especially when we got mugged by the two skinheads."

The Gallifreyan grimaced slightly. "I'm guessing that didn't go off too well."

"The men didn't like Jack being Jack," the teenage clairvoyant put in.

"No. They didn't. They killed him. I thought he was dead. Scared the bejebbies out of me when he came back to life."

"Me too," Glad agreed with Rose's sentiment. "And Sam wouldn't let me look at him either, the prude."

"What?" Rose asked. "Why would there be a problem with you seeing..." Seeing the look on the Doctor's face she stopped. "Oh. How did that happen?"

"Long story involving a matter/anti-matter explosion," the Time Lord told her. "Apparently, clothing doesn't reconstitute."

"It's not like I haven't seen anything before, you know," Glad protested. "Back in Camelot, there were times..."

Rose smiled. "You just would have encouraged him and that would have driven the Doctor mad."

"Oi! I'm not a prude! I just think there is a time and a place," came the defensive retort.

"I didn't call you a prude. I called Sam a prude," Glad reminded.

"I was talking to Rose," the Doctor told her with slight indignation.

"Oi! Like you wouldn't be on Jack in a second if he started strutting around like he did that one time you asked him to make a distraction," Rose countered.

"Well, how was I supposed to know he'd go streaking? At least he did put on some clothes when I told him to do so."

"What's streaking?" Glad questioned.

"It's running," Rose pointed out.

"Naked," the Doctor added onto her words.

"Like Sam and I did when we went to the lake!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Seeing the look of shock on Rose's face, the Time Lord shook his head. "They were in bathing suits, not naked. You have to remember which century she's from."

"You mean he didn't wear anything?" Glad said with a smile.

"Not a stitch," Rose replied, returning the grin. "See, the Doctor, Jack and I, we had to get this Neanderthal from a hospital. Long story about how the Neanderthal got in the hospital in the first place. Anyway, the only way we could even get in the hospital is if one of us set up a distraction and Jack agreed to it. Next thing we know, the Doctor and I are coming out of the hospital with the Neanderthal and there's screaming in the lobby and Jack is laughing and running around in all his glory. He didn't even go and get dressed until the Doctor ordered him to."

"I would have liked to have seen that," Glad stated.

"Of course, you would have," the Doctor commented. "Teenage girl going through puberty. It's a wonder you have any thoughts other than trying to find a mate."

"Sam said that such things were 'inappropriate' and I needed to wait until the time was right." She sighed. "He said he wasn't going to make the same mistake with me that he did with Katie."

The Doctor blinked, focused on the girl at his words. "His sister. Ah. Well... big brother complex, thinking in 20th century terms. Obviously feels that he did something wrong when it comes to protecting his sister. Still... probably a good idea to wait anyway. Make sure that you are thinking clearly instead of allowing your hormones to make your decisions." He took a breath. "Anyway, just letting you know, we should be arriving in the Amazon in a few minutes. Quick search for a certain plant, make a lovely little concoction out of it, and then we'll be off again."

"We're going to the Amazon for daisy picking? What does that have to do with Harold Saxon?" Rose questioned.

"You know about Harold Saxon?" Glad questioned.

"Of course, she does. She, Grace and Jack just tried to stop him from taking over Quantum Leap," the Gallifreyan explained.

"How would you know that?" Rose asked.

"Jack told me."

Rose blinked. "How would Jack know? That would be in the future, right?'

"Yup." He turned and started out the door, obviously wanting to take the conversation "on the road." "What do you last remember about being in the life of Sam Beckett?"

Rose blinked. "Ummmm. Very little. It's like when I first arrived at that project." Suddenly, a small memory came back. "I do remember dancing with Jack."

"You've danced several times with Jack, Rose," the Doctor pointed out. "The first time beside Big Ben, according to testimony I've heard."

"That's true. But this time it was different. We had to go to a gay nightclub."

"Oh, that's definitely different."

"You went dancing but you needed a happy soldier's weapon?" Glad questioned with a frown.

"What?" Rose asked, not at all connecting with the words.

"A gay knight's club," she attempted to clarify.

Rose looked to the Doctor, clearly hoping he could interpret.

"She's from medieval England. What else do you expect?" was the Time Lord's response.

Glad frowned in confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," he assured her. "It's just one of those miscommunication instances. See, for Rose, gay doesn't mean happy. It means... well... a person having romantic interests in one of his or her own gender."

"But that's... that's..." The girl grimaced in disgust. "Not even Boyne would have thought that way!"

"Who's Boyne?" Rose asked.

"Her cross-dressing cousin," the Gallifreyan replied. "And it isn't a knight's club. It's a nightclub, which is basically like a pub only with lots of lights, music, and dancing." He turned to Rose. "You can see how she got it mixed up."

Rose just shook her head, allowing the misunderstanding to pass. "Anyway, I don't recall much..." Her face suddenly blanched. "I remember Jack telling me to get back into a Fermi suit. When Saxon came... and the others." She shivered involuntarily.

"That is how Jack knew. I mean, about what happened at Quantum Leap. While you were sealing yourself in the Waiting Room with my sonic, Jack was leaping into himself in the past with the intent of stopping what happened." He stopped just after entering the console room. "Which is why we are in the Amazon in search of plants. Fighting the Master on two fronts. Well... sort of. We are going to take him on in Australia right after Maggie and I synthesize a drug to incapacitate him. And if that doesn't work, then there is Jack, who is going to stop the Master on his end by prevent the him from taking control of Quantum Leap and thus the last bastion of independent thought on Earth."

"The Amazon, then. Maybe after we stop Saxon, we could pop over to London, see my Mum..."

"Your mum is in a parallel world, Rose," he reminded her. "Remember? Canary Wharf. Fighting the Daleks and the Cybermen. The Pete of that world took your mum away. I tried to send you to her, but you came back. You'll never see her again, Rose. I'm sorry, but that was the choice you made."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - Timeline 1**

Rose Tyler stared at the Doctor, shock capturing her face as she heard that she'd never see her mother again. "I don't remember that," Rose said, sadness in her voice. "I'll never see her again?"

"I'm sorry," the Gallifreyan repeated, sympathy in his eyes.

"And you say I made the choice... at Canary Wharf?" She stopped and thought about it. It did sound like something she would have decided to do but the sudden knowledge of it was a bit of a shock for her. She tried to think about the event he'd mentioned but everything was hazy, her mind feeling more like fine lace than anything of substance where that memory was concerned. "I sort of remember a Canary Wharf but, somehow, it's incredibly vague."

"That would be the leaping effect. Sam leapt into you during the Battle of Canary Wharf. You'll eventually remember everything up to the moment he leapt into you. After that, I don't know."

"And I'll never see my mum again?"

"I'm sorry," he told her gently.

She took in a breath. "If I made that decision... it must have been the right one to make," she said, her voice tight as she brushed a tear off her face. Her breathing became ragged as she fought to keep from falling apart. Letting out a cleaning breath she decided a focus on their current mission would help her deal with things for the moment. She could cry later. "Right, then," she said to brace herself. "So, how long are we going to stay here?"

"Don't know. However long it takes for us to synthesize the drug." He was quiet for a moment, an odd feeling coming over him that there was something amiss. During the last few minutes, his entire focus had been on Rose and her quite normal reaction to the loss of her mum. Now, turning his head towards Galadriel, he noticed how she seemed to be staring at nothing in particular, as if she were in some sort of hypnotic trance. "Glad... you okay?"

Rose looked over to the girl. "What is it? She looks... well... out of it."

"She does, doesn't she," the Doctor commented, concern filling his eyes. "She hasn't been near any sort of communications in the last twenty-four hours, has she? Nah, couldn't be Pi," he negated that possibility immediately. He was startled but intensely relieved when Glad blinked and turned her head, seeming to snap back from wherever her mind had taken her. "You okay?"

"We have to hide," she stated bluntly.

"What? Hide? I've been with the Doctor long enough to know he doesn't hide," Rose stated defiantly.

"But we have to. For a long time," Glad reaffirmed. She looked into the Doctor's eyes. "If we don't, something bad is going to happen. Something horrible."

The Gallifreyan looked at her for a long moment. "You saw something, didn't you?"

"You mean psychically?" Rose asked.

The Doctor just gave Rose a nod for confirmation, his eyes still focused on Glad. "What did you see?"

Glad looked into the Gallifreyan's eyes. "So many will die if we rush in." She blinked as if deciding whether to tell him something but then blurted out, "Rose will die if only you, Rose, Dr. Hawthorne, and I try to take on the Master."

The Time Lord took a step back, his eyes wide with fear. "That dream..." he breathed. "I saw one of your dreams while you were sleeping in the library. Rose..."

"I'm not sure how they tie together but, yes. You will have to leave her behind if we try to take on the Master in this time."

"The Doctor would never leave me behind," Rose protested. "If it's just dreams and conjecture..."

"He'd have no other choice," Glad responded back.

"And my leaving her behind results in the future in that dream." The alien ran a hand through his hair.

"But this is just dreams," the Londoner stated again, this time with conviction. She looked at her dearest friend. "You'd never leave me behind."

He swallowed, dropping his head. "Of course not," he replied, though there was no strength in his words.

Glad spoke again. "He will have no choice. There is a strange..." she tried to think of how to explain it. "...lightning that will separate us. You on one side with the Master...and the Doctor, Dr. Hawthorne, and I on the other. He will have to leave you or there is no hope at all."

"Stop saying that!" Rose ordered angrily. "Just stop it! Who do you think you are anyway? Just where the hell did you come from? How did you get on the TARDIS in the first place?"

"Rose..." the Time Lord entreated gently.

"No! I want to know who she is and why she's trying to separate us!"

Glad blinked at the woman's words. She knew this person was no longer Sam but in her mind, that's who she thought about. Sam would never have yelled at her this way. Tears sprung to her eyes. "I'm not. I wouldn't do that."

Seeing that the girl was upset by Rose's outbreak, the Doctor pulled the older woman back and looked into her eyes. "You owe Glad an apology. She's only saying what she sees. And... she's right."

Rose started to rebuke the need for an apology by shaking her head until she heard the Time Lord agree with the girl's statement. "You... you... would... leave me?" she said slowly.

"Not if I had a choice. But I've seen her prophecy myself. Somehow, the Master captures you and forces me to watch you die because..." He swallowed tightly. "...because I won't surrender to him."

Seeing what could only be identified as self-loathing in his eyes mixed with an abyss of pain, she knew he believed that the events Glad was stating were going to come to pass. "You really think she's prophetic."

"I know she is," he told her, his voice filled with sadness. "You heard her. She knows about Bad Wolf and I didn't say a word. And, yes, I trust her."

The blonde woman blinked. "Then we'll do what she says. We hide until it's safe. You think she'll know that too?"

"Only time will tell, I suppose," he replied. He frowned strongly. "But hide where? From what I've read about the Pi Network, the Master will have control over every piece of communications technology in less than a year and then we'll be in the middle of a worldwide revolution to take back the planet, one that will end in failure, if Glad's dreams are any indication. We need to find some place far away from satellite accessibility, some place isolated from the rest of the world. And then you have the Master being able to find me because we are the same. Species, I mean. We can always find each other. Then again, I hadn't even known he was even on Earth until recently which means that he has some kind of telepathic dampening field in place. Maybe it goes both ways. I can't find him but neither can he find me. It would have to do, especially with him working with Earth resources. So, that takes care of him finding me. Oh! A cave! We can find a cave somewhere. Then again..." He shivered as an image of him in a cave brought back the memories of the vision he'd had in Merlin's Zero Room.

"How about a rainforest?" a voice came from the interior door, announcing Margaret's arrival.

"What?" the Doctor questioned, turning towards her with confusion.

"Some place isolated from communications where Saxon wouldn't be able to find us?" she pointed out. "Sorry, couldn't help but overhear your little rant about finding a place to hide. Why are we hiding anyway?"

"Who's she?" Rose asked.

"Dr. Maggie Hawthorne, Rose Tyler," the Doctor introduced them to each other. "Glad says we have to hide until it's safe in order to prevent deaths."

"It's Margaret. And she would know that... how?" Margaret asked.

"I have prophetic dreams," the girl responded to the question.

"No such things," the geologist stated. "All in the realm of bending spoons and knowing what's on the other side of a card. Pure rubbish."

"So says the girl who played with something called a Ouija board when she was my age," countered Glad.

Margaret stopped. "Only to prove it didn't work," she stated. "And you must have guessed on that one. Most girls your age try one out."

"I don't even know what a Ouija board is but you were scared of it."

The scientist pulled back. "Is she an alien as well? Some sort of mind sucker?"

"Forgot to tell you. She's also a bit psychic," the Doctor put in. "And, no, she's completely human. And she hasn't been wrong in any of her predictions yet so I'm following her lead on this. Since you suggested a rainforest, I suppose that we'll just have to stay here in the Amazon for however long we need."

"And how long do you think that might be?" Rose asked.

"I have no idea. I suppose we'll just have to wait for some sort of sign."

Margaret looked at him. "Don't tell me you're one of those ding-bats that believe in bunyips and fairies that the metaphysical crowd is always trying to use to explain things. We could be waiting donkey's years to finally leave this jungle if you're waiting for some sort of sign."

"Don't know what a bunyip is, fairies exist but I really wouldn't suggest trying to get to be friends with them - nasty little buggers," the Time Lord told her. "And, as a great author once told me, 'There is more to heaven and earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy.'"

Rose grinned at his words. "Charles Dickens." She received a smile in return.

"Shakespeare," Margaret corrected.

"No," the Doctor countered. "Definitely Dickens. However, he was quoting me."

"Do you take me for a wally? I've read 'Hamlet' at least six times and have seen it more times than that on the stage. Even played Ophelia back in my days at Uni. Dickens never said that, and you must think me mad to believe that that was a quote from you."

"But it was," he protested. "William sprained his hand writing sonnets so I helped him write 'Hamlet.' It's not my fault that that one particular sentence that I added was quoted by Dickens when Rose and I met him."

"You met Dickens? And Shakespeare?" She tilted her head. "How old _are_ you?"

"Older than I look but not as old as you think I am."

"He's a bit vain about his age," Glad put in abruptly.

"You can say that again," Rose agreed.

"Oi!" he berated them. "Just because I'm nine hundred two years old and don't want to admit it to practical strangers doesn't make me vain."

"You keep telling yourself that," Rose said with a smile.

"Nine... nine... hundred?" the Australian geologist repeated, surprised.

"He lies about his age," Glad stated with confidence.

"That was going to be between you and me!" the Time Lord complained. "Anyway... my age isn't important right now. Since we don't know when we'll be leaving, we have to be prepared. So, who wants to go hunting for the plants I need?" When all three women agreed and the Doctor headed with a stride to the door. "Right then. _Allons-y!_ "

Glad followed the Doctor out first, her eyes taking in the lush greenery. She looked up. "You can't even see the sky; it's like a castle of trees!"

The Doctor grinned widely at her words. "That, my dear, is a very apt description. It is very much like a castle of trees." He turned towards Rose. "So, what do you think?"

"It's beautiful," she answered.

"Maggie?" he questioned.

Figuring she'd fight fire with fire, "It's very green... Doc," she answered.

The Gallifreyan stiffened slightly at her words. "Do not call me 'Doc.' I'm not a port where ships harbor for repairs!"

"Never said you were," she agreed.

He gave her a glare before turning towards the jungle, tucking his hands into his pockets.

Glad turned to Margaret, thinking she just didn't understand. "He's the Doctor, Margaret. Just the Doctor."

"Yes. I understand that," she said with a smile to the young girl.

"Then why did you..." Glad started.

"Maggie's doing it to annoy me," the Doctor told Glad.

Margaret gave the Doctor a glare but then turned to the girl. "The Doc is wrong. I just figure if he can take liberties with my name, then turnabout is fair play."

He sighed in defeat. "Very well... Margaret." He grimaced. "Margaret is such a dull name. Reminds me of an old spinster sitting in a rocking chair, knitting away. But Maggie... Maggie's a fun name, full of adventure and comedy and intrigue..."

"My parents named me for Margaret Mead. My namesake never had a problem with her name and I think she lived a pretty exciting life."

"Well, could be worse," he reminded her. "I could call you Peg. Or Daisy."

"You call me Peg and I'll have to hurt you. As to Daisy..." She paused. "That's not too bad, actually. I like daisies."

"I didn't say I would call you Peg. I said I could. And I won't." He hesitated. "I bruise easily." Hearing Rose huff at his words, he turned towards her. "I do! But I've never liked Daisy as a name. All I see is Barbara Bach in one of those really short jeans that were so popular in the early 1980s."

"Who's Barbara Bach?" asked Glad, confused.

"Daisy Duke? 'The Dukes of Hazzard?' You didn't see it?"

"Sam said it was a rather silly show when I suggested it. We watched 'I Love Lucy' instead. She was funny."

"Can't argue with that," the Gallifreyan agreed. "Lucy is always better. Wouldn't you agree... Margaret?"

"Yes. And thank you," the geologist answered, obviously glad that her name would be used correctly.

"Anything to keep you from calling me 'Doc' again," he grumbled.

The rest of the day was spent going through the rainforest to find the raw materials for the Doctor's soporific weapon against the Master. While all of them were still concerned that the length of their sojourn in the Amazonian wilderness had no known endpoint, none brought it up again. As the Doctor had said, they'd just need to wait.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - Timeline 1**

 _Amazon rainforest_

 _April 10, 2010_

Time is a funny thing sometimes. It can seem to drag on forever or it can move faster than imaginable. In this case, it was immeasurable completely. After all, how do you measure what you don't know? They could need to stay there in the Amazon for years or they could be called to action at any moment. It all depended on waiting for some kind of sign, some kind of indication that it was time to leave... and they didn't even know what to look for.

The Doctor, with all his time sense, didn't know the answers. He was quite used to knowing what was going to happen. In this case, he knew next to nothing - with the exception of what he'd seen in the nightmare. He'd found, in the nearly five months they had been in the Amazon jungle, that he had actually had nightmares about Glad's nightmare, something he didn't think was possible until the first one struck him. And, as usual whenever he did have nightmares, Rose would be waiting in the kitchen with a cup of tea and a gentle smile that said she understood what he was going through but she wouldn't press him to talk.

Most of the time during the wait, however, the Doctor tried to find a way to penetrate the bioelectrical field surrounding the Prometheus Institute that he'd seen in Glad's dreams. He understood that when the time came, he couldn't let the Master just take over, thus the plan to incapacitate the other Time Lord with the temporary paralysis drug he and Margaret had been working on since they arrived. And he worked on it almost constantly with Rose there to give him encouragement.

Margaret sighed for the fifteenth time that day. She and Glad had again gone out to walk on the Earth. Normally the Doctor asked them to stay in the TARDIS so that they wouldn't be found by outsiders. He hadn't stepped out since the day they'd landed in the Amazon jungle. He made the argument that the TARDIS was infinite inside. Rose generally agreed with him, worried about leaving his side. Margaret and Glad, though, would occasionally rebel. This was one of those days. After the sixteenth sigh, she finally voiced her thoughts. "We've got to do something, Glad. This is just fruit loops. Those two pretend that they're just cobbers but we know better. I just don't understand why they don't admit it and crack onto each other."

"Bloody oath, Maggie!" Glad agreed. The older woman had finally accepted the shortened name when it began to look like there wouldn't be any change and their band would be together for potentially years. Allowing her name to be shortened to Maggie had seemed a minor change against all of that.

The professor shook her head. "But what can we do about it? Both of them choose to act the goat. They're both so stubborn. Sometimes I think the Doctor doesn't know Christmas from Bourke Street when it's so obvious that Rose is interested in him."

"Tell me about it," the teenager replied. "And then Rose won't even say anything when he practically brushes her off. But they still look at each other in that certain way."

"Yeah," Maggie agreed, with a seventeenth sigh exiting her body.

"We're just going to have to trick them," Glad told her bluntly. "That's what my father had to do with his sister. I remember when I was little, he tricked her and the man she was in love with into a room together and locked them in until they finally confessed their feelings."

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" Maggie asked.

Glad gave her a look. "This is the Doctor we're talking about."

Maggie nodded. "Let's do it."

"Okay... got to be a little more romantic than just a locked room, though. Like that little dining room five floors down. Or one of the gardens."

"Gardens. The dining room is nice but..."

"And we set up a nice little dinner for two there. We'll have to make sure the TARDIS won't let them out once they get inside, though. You know how she practically bends over backwards for the Doctor."

"Even the TARDIS has to know he needs her."

"Exactly, so I don't think it will be too hard to convince the TARDIS to go along with this. The question now is... how do we get them in there?"

Maggie thought about it. "The blansmartken tree," she finally answered.

Glad frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, since we have a lot of time on our hands and he's got that fabulous library, I've been reading up on something that Sam told me about... before he... disappeared. Some book written by a 43rd century biologist. They found this tree on Lanses Three that has some unique properties. One of them is the leaves which can be brewed into a beverage that acts as a sleeping aid for some species, Gallifreyans among them. In fact, Gallifreyans have apparently been using blansmartken tea as a sleeping aid for millennia. The Doctor's been developing weapons against the Master but he hasn't once brought up using blansmartken tea. I've been meaning to talk to him about this tea since I restarted Sam's research. That might just work to get him to the garden and Rose goes wherever he does."

"We can certainly try that."

The two of them walked through the TARDIS in search of the Doctor and Rose, stopping briefly in the garden to place the basket under the blansmartken tree, eventually coming across the Time Lord pouring over what looked like a collection of odd symbols that Glad immediately identified as Gallifreyan. Much to their dismay, though, Rose was nowhere to be seen. She carefully cleared her voice, gaining the Time Lord's attention.

"I'm busy, Glad. What is it?"

"Umm... where's Rose?"

"Taking a nap," he answered. He raised his head to look at the two ladies. "What's wrong?"

Glad was about to say something when Maggie spoke up. "Nothing's wrong, Doctor. We were just wondering how the research was going."

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck. "Not as well as I would like. I've been trying to find a way through the Master's transduction barrier as well as the bioelectrical field I have confirmed surrounds the headquarters of the Prometheus Institute. Using the TARDIS to shield our signal from Pi Network satellites and bouncing the signal from one relay station to another, I was able to find footage of some Cybermen hitting an invisible barrier around the building and dropping like proverbial flies." Seeing the surprised look on Margaret's face, he explained, "Those metal men that attacked the world a couple of years back."

"I remember. They were awful."

"Anyway, seeing that proved there's definitely a bioelectrical field around the building. However, later footage shows people walking through that same area unharmed. Given what I've seen and what I know of the Master, by now he's probably set the field to incapacitate anyone who hits that field unless a specific signal is sent to weaken it, which only the Master would have. And if that is true, it makes sense that the generator for the field is inside. So, the question is now how do we get through the field without causing any of us from being knocked unconscious or worse."

"It's safe for humans, not Time Lords, without the signal," Glad blurted out, her eyes distant for a brief moment. "If you tried to go through, it would kill you."

The Gallifreyan grimaced at her words. "Oh, that's not good," he stated, leaning back in his seat. "And he'd be smart enough to account for any friends I might have along so it's probably set to react to artron energy."

Maggie spoke up. "What's artron energy?" She gave Glad a look to say she'd keep the Doctor busy while Glad checked on Rose. The girl snuck away.

"It's what the TARDIS runs on... well, in part," the Doctor told Maggie. "It gives off a harmless radioactive signature that a person absorbs when exposed to the time vortex. The more you travel through time, the more artron energy radiation you'd pick up."

"I've never traveled in time," Maggie pointed out.

"Well, you traveled in the TARDIS. One trip. It counts but you don't have enough radiation absorbed to prevent you from just waltzing right through the field, unlike me, Rose and Glad."

"Then I should be the one to do this," Maggie stated bluntly. "Breach the barrier you're talking about and shut it down from the inside so the rest of you can come in. I'm willing to do anything if it will save my world."

"It will be very dangerous," the Doctor warned. "You could easily be captured or killed. And if you're captured... well, let's just say this particular incarnation of the Master has a fondness for screams."

Maggie smiled at the Doctor. "Since we've landed here I've spent a lot of time thinking. I've been thinking about how Jack walked straight into the jaws of danger knowing that if he fails he'll be tortured forever," she told him, recalling the Gallifreyan telling her about Jack's fate in the possible future they were determined to prevent. "If he can do that, I think I can handle dying a horrid death for my planet."

The Doctor grinned widely at her words. "Human beings. You are amazing!"

Glad returned at that moment and touched Maggie's arm. Leaning to whisper in her ear, she informed her, "I got Rose to the garden."

Maggie gave a quiet nod. "Doctor, I think I have found something that might help you. In reading, I've learned of a potential weapon against the Master. The tea of the blansmartken tree can be..."

"Blansmartken tree! Of course!" he exclaimed, standing abruptly. He quickly moved to her and gave her a tight hug. "Maggie, you're brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? Of course, getting the Master to drink the tea would be a challenge but I'm sure that I can come up with a rather effective means of delivering it to him and I would much rather put him to sleep than paralyze him, even temporarily. Paralysis drugs can have really nasty side effects. Plus I'd have to put up with listening to him complain... Now, blansmartken tea is perfect! Maybe I could possibly create a highly concentrated paste to coat a dart..." He looked between the two ladies with him, not having noticed that Glad had at one time been missing from the conversation. "Well? What are we waiting for? _Allons-y_!" He quickly marched from the room, heading into the TARDIS' corridors. "Of course, there's only one garden in the TARDIS that has a blansmartken tree and that is..." Walking through the appropriate door, he heard it close behind him and lock. "What?" he questioned in a high pitch. "But..."

"Doctor, what did you need me for?" Rose asked walking up to him.

Turning to the woman in front of him, he blinked. "Umm... I didn't... Weren't you taking a nap?" He turned and looked at the locked door and then sighed. "I think we've just been hoodwinked."

"I'm not sure I understand. Glad told me you needed me here now. That it was imperative."

"I didn't call for you, Rose. Apparently, Glad and Maggie are up to some sort of mischief." He walked to the door and tried it again. Pulling out his screwdriver, he attempted to open the door a third time. "We're locked in."

"Maybe there's another door?" the blond woman suggested.

"No other door in this garden," the Doctor informed her, examining the door. "Thing is... the TARDIS should know we're in here and unlock the door the moment I tried it. Instead, the door's deadlocked from the outside."

"What if the TARDIS wants us here too?"

"Oh, come on. She's my ship. She doesn't engage in wicked practical jokes against me. Well... not often anyway." He patted the door gingerly. "Come on, girl. Open the door for us." A moment later, he took an indignant step backwards. "What do you mean, no?" Not getting an answer, he sighed. "Well... since we're here, we might as well make the best of it and get a few blansmartken tree leaves."

"A blans what tree?"

"Blansmartken tree. Grows on Lanses Three. The leaves make a very lovely sedative for certain species."

"Oh. Okay.," Rose was not at all sure that she understood. "So you think someone needs a sedative?"

"The Master. Maggie gave me the idea. Brilliant girl! I can use the leaves to put the Master to sleep once we get close enough to him. Then we just bundle him up, bring him into the TARDIS and lock him up." He walked as he spoke, looking for the tree in question. "And the tree is somewhere in this garden. Forgot it was even here. Don't visit this garden very often. Ah, there it is!" She followed him over to a large tree with purple leaves and bright yellow flowers with pink centers. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he pointed out. "Mind you, I have to be careful collecting the leaves or I'm going to be a sleepy Time Lord."

Rose noticed a basket placed next to the tree and smiled. "Oh, Doctor. I thought you were being serious about being locked in. What a great idea!"

He turned with a frown. "I was being..." He then noticed the basket and the look on Rose's face and easily added two and two. "Those sneaky little devils," he murmured.

Rose was already moving towards the basket and didn't hear his last words. "Let's see what you put in here." She pulled off the red and white checked tablecloth that she spread on the ground beneath the tree. The first thing she saw was a can of whipped cream. "Hello? Whatever do you want to do with this?"

"Well..." he started, scratching his sideburn with a hint of embarrassment at seeing the can. "You know... it's... it goes well with..." He frowned at the next thing Rose pulled out. "Strawberries?"

"I thought the chocolate was for those." She noticed how he was squirming. Her face fell. "You didn't do this, did you?"

"Of course, I did," he lied, nodding too much. "Planned the whole thing. But, you know, chocolate and strawberries and whipped cream..."

Rose smiled, knowing that he was trying to salvage everything for her. She patted the cloth beside her. "It's okay. Since we're obviously going to be here at least until we have a picnic, let's make the best of it." She pulled some other things out of the basket. "They probably just thought you were stressed and needed a break..." She looked up at him. "...which you do."

The Doctor hemmed and hawed for a moment before sitting down on the cloth beside her. "I get the distinct impression this little venture isn't just for a break," he told her, crossing his legs. He blinked for a moment before smiling slightly and then chuckling gently. "You know what this reminds me of? The first place I took you right after I regenerated. Okay, so there weren't any strawberries or chocolate or... whipped cream... Why did they pack whipped cream if it wasn't for the strawberries? Anyway, you and I were laying on my coat in the applegrass..."

Rose grinned broadly and then shared a laugh with him as they continued to reminisce. After a long moment, though, she sighed. "Do you think it's ever going to be like that again? It was dangerous, yeah, but it wasn't like the sword of dam... dam... or whatever his name was hanging over us."

"The Sword of Damocles. Nice allusion to all the dangers we encountered. You've been reading in the library," he commented with a smile.

"Well, when you're wrapped up in your research, it allows me to be quietly beside you."

"I suppose," the Gallifreyan admitted. "I hope things will be back to normal. Well... as normal as thing get with us." He grinned broadly at her.

She grinned back. For just a moment, their eyes caught. "Doctor?" she started, her heart fluttering wildly as the intensity of his eyes drove deep into her soul.

He couldn't seem to move from his spot, feeling her brown eyes watching his. His smile faltered into one of uncertainty. He swallowed for a moment. "Yes, Rose?"

"Well," she said, licking at her lips. "That may never happen. We may have to stay here instead." She swallowed. "And if that's true then..." As she spoke she moved closer to him, her thoughts on his eyes, his lips. She was finding it hard to breath, her chest rising and falling.

"Then, we'll have to... umm... make due with our... situation," he added to her words, not moving as she drew closer. He swallowed again. "Rose... there's something I have to tell you."

"Yes, Doctor?" she asked in anticipation.

"I... I think you're brilliant. And fantastic..." he started. "And brilliant..."

"You said brilliant twice," she told him softly. She blinked her eyes slowly taking in his words and wishing he'd stop talking and just kiss her.

"Yes... yes, I did. You're absolutely correct. I most certainly said brilliant twice. Well... because you are. Brilliant, that is. And fantastic." He could feel her close presence, smell the scent of her shampoo. "And... well... I..." Looking into her eyes, he felt his hearts jump into his throat. Their lips were centimeters, millimeters apart. He reached up his hands and brushed the hair on her face away, his palms cupping her cheeks gently. "Rose..." he breathed, moving forward closer and closer. For a moment, he seemed about to act when he suddenly pulled back, turning to the picnic basket. "So... strawberries, chocolate, whipped cream... What's this?" He pulled out a large bottle and looked at the label. "Champagne?" He didn't see that Rose instantly deflated at his actions, obviously disappointed. "Why would Glad and Maggie pack champagne?" He blinked for a long moment before running a hand through his hand. "Right..." he murmured slightly. "Strawberries, chocolate, whipped cream, champagne, chocolate. I should probably pour us some. Champagne, I mean, not chocolate. That is, unless it's hot chocolate, which it isn't. And Glad and Maggie did go out of their way to make this up for us." He glanced towards Rose, who wasn't looking at him. "Rose? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied, though her voice clearly indicated that something was definitely wrong.

"No. Something is definitely wrong. A moment ago, we were talking about New Earth and applegrass and..."

"You were going to tell me something," she put in abruptly.

"I did," he answered hesitantly. He dug into the picnic basket once again to retrieve two champagne glasses.

"Other than I'm brilliant and fantastic and brilliant," she added to encourage him.

He focused on opening the champagne bottle and pouring the alcoholic beverage for the two of them. "And you are."

"And?"

Handing her a glass of champagne, he looked into her eyes and appeared to be about to speak when he decided to down the whole glass.

"Doctor..." Rose said once more.

He raised his eyebrows at her tone but, a moment later, looked increasingly uncomfortable. "I really... I mean... It's just that..." He sighed. "Blimey, you'd think that being as old as I am that this would get easier," he muttered. "It's not like I've never said it before."

"Said what..." she primed as she put her glass by the tree.

"You know... that phrase."

"I'm sorry, but there are so many that come to mind," she said sarcastically. "Could you be more specific?"

"Well, I could but then if I say it the results might not come about the way I'm hoping they would and I really don't know if I could accept it if it didn't come about the way I'm hoping and if they do then how do I react to such a result considering the implications that go along with it..."

"Let me help you," she said suddenly right before reaching out and pulling him close, her lips firmly and passionately on his. After a long kiss, she pulled away. "Does that make it any easier?"

The Doctor dropped his champagne glass on the ground and stared at her for a long moment before finding a voice. "Blimey," he whispered.

"That's not the word I was hoping for."

"Well..." he started, seeming to still be taken back by her actions. "Allow me to be more clear." An instant later, he reciprocated, pulling her close and kissing her passionately as his hands cradled her head. When he pulled away, he knew that he could speak the words he'd been trying to say for the last several minutes. "I love you, Rose Tyler."

"Finally!" she said before pulling him down again. "I love you too," she finished before kissing him passionately once more. This time neither pulled away.

DWQLTWDWQLTW

 _Project Quantum Leap_

 _Stallion's Gate, New Mexico_

 _April 2, 2010_

Once Jack and Al finally agreed on the necessity of defending Project Quantum Leap and on the methods needed to do so, they separated, Al to first change into his uniform and then to collect the team Jack had pulled together over the last couple of weeks and have them meet in the project's cafeteria, the only room in the complex large enough to hold all of them. Jack, on the other hand, had gone down with the inventory control chief to check on the supplies that he'd stockpiled and to speak with the woman about how to disperse the various materials. Once that was finished, he met Al at the cafeteria.

Looking out over the crowd, he scanned the group to identify his Torchwood team including Grace Holloway. Having lived the last few months twice, he knew that this time she would be a definite asset to the mission. He remembered their other compatriot, the gas station owner named Paul, and smiled at the memory of the previous timeline. The man was one of a kind. It was rather sad they'd never meet this time around.

Once everyone was assembled, he stood so that he could be seen by everyone and then spoke. "You may have noted that for the past two weeks, while you've been taking a crash course on aliens and their care and feeding, that you haven't had contact with the outside world. Well, except for the earlier part of the visit when those of you who brought your families probably heard about their shopping and sightseeing adventures at night. Thanks, Beth, for putting those together." He took a breath. "But now, I need to let you know the real reason why you're all here. It's because Harold Saxon, whom I'm sure most of your have heard about, has had a rather nefarious plan connected with his Pi network which went live four days ago. Saxon has promised to usher in a new age with instantaneous communication across the globe without any dead zones. Sounds good... and it would be... if there wasn't also the fact that the Pi network has been used to bring every living human listening to the network under his control."

"That's bunk. No one can do that," called out a Marine in the second row. "Even if he used some kind of subliminal message in everything, you can't control every person on the planet with a satellite system."

Jack looked to Al and said, as an aside, "You know, I'm getting definite feelings of deja vu and it's not the good kind." Without waiting for Al's response, he answered the outburst, "If this system was what we are used to - even if it was from the cutting edge research that is going on in the 'black' projects undertaken by various military groups - you'd be right. But this system makes anything we can conceive of look like tin cans with string in comparison. I think you might be interested in a small video, which I've run through a filter to remove any hint of the active programming, showing how our current leaders are handling the new Pi Network." Once he'd stated his intent, the lights went down and the screen behind him lit up with a news program.

"Yes, Bob. The Pi Network is fantastic. Harold Saxon deserves our everlasting thanks for the good he's done. Such a wonderful human being and our President agrees."

The picture changed to a scene in the oval office, the President of the United States smiling into the camera. "Harold Saxon has done wonders for the world and that includes our country. I have just come from a joint meeting of the House and Senate and we've unanimously decided that Harold Saxon, although not a native-born citizen, is fully qualified to be president. An amendment has been entered and, tomorrow, all states will hold an election to make it fully constitutional. Knowing that Harold Saxon is a good man who has our best interests at heart, we are sure that the American people will agree. I expect to step down and have Mr. Saxon take on the presidency within five days." As the news program went on, the room went first to complete silence followed by the whispering between people.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this from our president! This is a fake. It has to be. Anyone who would believe the American people would just capitulate..."

Jack stopped the Navy captain. "It's worse. Please just let me show you all the evidence first."

Over the next thirty minutes, news program after news program showed the various leaders of the world expressing much the same. There was even a clip of the Queen of England offering all the palaces owned by Great Britain to Saxon with the Prime Minister agreeing wholeheartedly. After all, Harold Saxon deserved only the finest that could be had.

At the end of the news programs, the lights came up again. "We have about ten minutes for questions and then we have to get down to going over what we're going to do about this," Jack told the crowd.

There was a long silence, every person in the room stunned by what they had just seen.

"But, it's impossible," an Air Force officer finally said.

"No, it's not," a UNIT officer put in. "The kind of technology Saxon is using... you said it was far above what we would have... to me, that would indicate he is using something extraterrestrial in nature. If that's the case, then it's definitely possible."

Grace stood up. "You're right. My name is Dr. Grace Holloway and I'm from UNIT. You know we've dealt with alien threats worldwide but I can tell you the UNIT leadership out there has been affected the way you just saw on the screen. I have met the alien who's behind what you've just seen. What Harold Saxon is using is equivalent to Gallifreyan technology. Captain Harkness has said this will be the last stand. We win, we can get back our world. We don't... well... we either pledge allegiance to Harold Saxon or we die. Simple as that."

"Gallifreyan?" the officer questioned. "You mean that Harold Saxon is the same species as the Doctor?"

"That guy we were taught about this past week?" the Marine who had spoken first asked.

"The very same," Al stated. "We are likely the largest group of humans who are not affected by Saxon's Pi network. It's been said that he wouldn't be able to control the whole world and that's somewhat true. There are a few individuals that won't be affected. Very few. Not enough to stem the tide. I don't like this anymore than the rest of you, but we're going to have to fight."

"If the rest of the world is going to fight us, how do you expect us to win? There are... what? 200? 300 people here. Some are civilians and some are children. How can we hope to prevail?" one woman in civilian clothes questioned.

Jack nodded. "I know. It seems insurmountable. I've been there before. Several times. But the one thing we have on our side that gives me confidence is the Doctor is working on this as well. If we give him enough time, he'll find a way to turn this. He always has... but we have to give him that time."

"And just exactly where is this Doctor?" another civilian complained. "If Harold Saxon can just take over people's minds with a bunch of satellites in space, what chance has one man got?"

"He can do it," a UNIT officer, wearing the markings that indicated that she was a Brigadier, stated firmly. "Do any of you remember a few years ago when the Cybermen and Daleks were here? They didn't succeed because of the Doctor. The reports of the Sycorax ship over London? The Doctor was there too."

"That was a hoax!" came a loud voice from no particular direction.

"That was the cover story that we put out concerning the incident," corrected the female Brigadier. "The Doctor prevented the Sycorax from enslaving the Earth and Torchwood took care of the ship to ensure that they would never return again." She turned to Jack. "Though I doubt that the current management of the organization would approve of the previous management's methods." She took a breath. "What I want to know is just exactly who is Harold Saxon, especially since he is one of the Doctor's own kind."

Grace stood up again. "He's the Master," she said bluntly.

One fifth of the room instantly started to murmur at the revelation, the Brigadier exclaiming, "Shame!"

Within the next few minutes, the UNIT and Torchwood operatives worked with the others who were not yet sure to convince them of the danger. Jack bounced on his feet, seeing the room continuing to turn in his favor. "Well, that went much better this time."

"Huh?" Al asked.

"Never mind. It's not important. What is important is that now the Doctor and Sam hopefully will have time to fix all this. If they don't..." The head of Torchwood left the rest unsaid, knowing that Al was fully on board.

Al nodded. Over the next half hour, they went over the general plan followed by conclave of the leaders of each group to coordinate strategy. It wouldn't be hard as all parties fully understood the consequences if they failed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - Timeline 1**

 _Timeline One_

 _Amazon rainforest_

 _June 12, 2014_

When the Doctor and Rose had left the garden years before, it was clear that the two of them had come to a reconciliation of their feelings for each other, especially based on their general lack of appropriate attire and the expression on their faces. After that afternoon, their relationship had continued to grow, much to the delight of Glad and Maggie.

As their self-imposed exile in the Amazon continued month after month, the Doctor became more and more aware of the various timelines that were in play, one in particular giving him hope for the eventual overthrow of the Master four years in his past. At the same time, he didn't want to relinquish the life he had created with Rose, Glad and Maggie. He knew that, while they remained in the Amazon, they would be safe from the Master and his conquest of Earth. In addition, his companions had become his family in so many ways with Rose now his mate for life. They had even gone so far as growing their own vegetables in the various gardens of the TARDIS, insuring that they were never in need of the basic necessities. As time continued to pass, the Gallifreyan became enamored with this new life, deciding that he'd let his alternate selves handle saving the Earth. After all, he had seen what would happen to the people he loved if he tried to stop the Master. It was better, in his opinion, not to risk it. They appeared to be safe enough here with no evidence that anyone was looking for them.

The girls had gone out on a foraging mission in the late afternoon. Although they spent most of the time inside the TARDIS, occasionally they needed to spend time with their feet on the Earth. Usually the Doctor went with them but today he decided was the perfect day to harvest some of the vegetables that were his "pride and joy." Besides, he figured some of his pride in the gardens was a bit symbolic. He nurtured the vegetables while Rose nurtured the life that was growing in her, a miracle that had required some careful adjustments to ensure. He'd just pulled a bunch of radishes from the ground - Rose had been having serious cravings for the red beet which he honestly could not stand himself - when he heard the TARDIS moan in his head. "What is it?" he questioned. The last time she'd made that sound, a hurricane was off the coast and the extreme winds inland had made hunting and foraging impossible for a whole week.

The Doctor suddenly found himself in the control room, telling him that the TARDIS had teleported him for some unknown reason. The exterior door flew open and Glad fell into the room, her whole being obviously distraught as tears cascaded down her face. "They're gone! Doctor, I'm sorry. We tried to stop them... we did. We wouldn't have let them do this. You know that. You have to know that. I'm sorry..."

"Hold on, Glad," the Time Lord instructed, taking her gently by the shoulders. "Slow down. Tell me what happened." A frown of worry crossed his face as he realized that she was alone. "Where's Rose and Margaret?"

"Maggie's dead. They shot her when she tried to get them to let go of Rose." The young woman shivered. "It was a laser blast point blank. They left her without a face," Glad said shaking, the tears even more intense.

The Doctor gazed on her, shock clear on his visage. "Dead..." he whispered in disbelief. "But how?" He swallowed tightly to regain his composure and looked deeply into her eyes. "Where's Rose? What happened to my wife?"

"Soldiers. We didn't hear them until the last minute. The soldier in charge pointed at Rose and said she was the one. She tried to run but you know she can't move very well right now. They grabbed her and Margaret rushed in trying to get them to release her. She was fighting, clawing at them but they held on... and then Maggie..."

The Gallifreyan dropped to his knees, his expression shifting from shock to despair. "Rose... Maggie..." He ran his hands over his face only to notice that they were shaky violently. "It's my fault," he whispered with obvious self-rebuke.

Glad went to him. Even in her own despair, she knew he needed someone now. "No. You didn't have any idea this would happen. We've gone out so many times before and nothing's ever happened."

He wondered for a moment at her words, clearly debating them in his hearts. "You never saw this coming," he stated more than asked. "You always see things coming. The hurricanes, the dangers... It's not your fault. But me... I should have known..." He looked lost for a long moment before his brown eyes turned nearly black. "He found you through me. The Master is looking for me and he found you and now..." He ignored the trails of salt water that crept down his cheeks. "Oh, Rose... what have I done?"

Glad, thinking he was talking about her, responded through her tears. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I didn't ever mean to do that. I wouldn't have stayed if I knew this could happen."

He blinked at her words. "What?" he questioned, his voice shaking with emotion. "I told you. It's not your fault. It isn't. It's me and my Time Lord DNA. I did this. I drew the soldiers in." He paused, closing his eyes. "I put my wife and child in danger and caused the death of a dear friend."

"You can't help who you are... and you tried to leave. The force field around the planet. You said we couldn't break through."

He slumped into a seated position, guilt clear on his face. "I gave up even trying six months after we came here."

"Because everything was perfect. And do you honestly believe that anything would have changed? That he would let you leave?"

The Doctor exhaled slowly. "No," he admitted. "He never would let me leave." He again turned his eyes towards Glad, needing an answer to his concerns. "She was alive when they took her, yes?" Getting an affirmative response, he nodded to himself before standing and helping Glad to her feet as well. "Then I need to develop a rescue plan."

"What about Maggie?" Glad asked. "We can't just leave her out there. The jaguars will eat her."

"No, of course not. We'll..." He took a slow, calming breath, forcing himself to think rather than act on sheer emotion. "We need to give her a proper burial in accordance with human custom." He shook slightly. "You'll have to help me through this. I've been a mourner at many funerals but I've never actually had to perform the act. My people don't place their dead in the ground."

"We'll need to dig a place to put her casket." She looked disturbed. "I doubt you have one though. I know the priests sometimes used cloth wrappings."

"We'll wrap her body. I've done that enough times," he told her somberly.

Once they'd made the plans to take care of their friend's final resting place, they put them in motion. Neither spoke much while they tended to their fallen comrade. Glad spoke the words she remembered the priests had spoken and then they walked back to the TARDIS, both drained by the experience.

"What are we going to do now, Doctor?" Glad asked once they had entered the entry to the timeship.

Looking back at the spot where Margaret Hawthorne now lay, he closed the door and headed for the console. "I'm going to take you some place safe," he told Glad gently as, for the first time in four years, he entered coordinates. A moment later, the rotor moved and a loud mechanical wheezing sound filled the air, indicating that they were now in flight.

Glad went over to him. "You can take me anywhere but I'm not leaving you."

He gave her a firm look. "Yes... you are." His tone indicated that he was resolute in his decision.

"No. I'm not. I'm staying with you, Doctor, whether you like it or not. Whatever you're planning, you need me. I've got the pendant and you'll need that."

"Yes, you're right. I do need you. I need you to stay alive and the chances of that are poor to none if you come with me," he replied. When she started to protest yet again, he exploded with his interrupting outburst. "Galadriel Thatcher, for once in your life, obey me! I can't..." He deflated at the sudden emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. "I can't lose another friend."

"And I can't lose you. You're all I have in the universe. If you're gone, I might as well be."

"Galadriel..."

"My decision is final, Doctor. I'm going with you," she told him bluntly.

The Time Lord looked at the nineteen year old, remembering the day he had met her and wishing that things were that simple again, crossdressers, grumpy knights and all. Sighing, he nodded slowly. "All right," he conceded, going around the console again and fiddling with controls. Several moments later, the time rotor stopped, telling that the TARDIS had materialized. "Let's go," he instructed, guiding her towards the door. He opened it for her, looked around for a moment before nodding, and then stepped out before assuring that she followed him. They found themselves in an alleyway which seemed completely devoid of any signs of life. The stench from the overturned trash bins and cardboard boxes told that it had been months since a human being had been down it, even for the simple task of trash collecting. The Doctor looked around, his nose crinkling in disgust. "Nothing like the scent of putrification to make you realize how clean a rainforest can be."

Glad looked around in confusion. "What's happened? This isn't like the world we left. When are we?"

"June 13, 2014," the Doctor told her. "The day after Rose was kidnapped and Maggie murdered." When Glad looked at him confused, he explained. "Well it's the same day but due to the International Date Line, here it's the next day. Remember, we can't move through time, only from place to place." By his tone, he obviously was still trying to come to terms with the loss of Maggie and with Rose's kidnapping. "We're in Melbourne, Australia, about two miles from what was formerly known as the Prometheus Institute building. Now, if my information is correct, it's simply known as the Palace."

"What's our plan then?" Glad asked, ready to do whatever the Doctor requested.

"We go knock on the Master's door and demand Rose back," he responded, starting towards the exit of the alley. He led Glad through the darkened streets of Melbourne, ducking into alleys and doorways whenever there seemed to be the risk of being caught. They had only gotten a mile closer to their destination when a voice froze them in their spots.

"Hold it right there!" a man said from behind them. "Turn around, you two. Slowly." Raising their hands, they obeyed the obvious order. "What are you doing in a forbidden zone?"

"Forbidden zone?" the Doctor questioned with a frown. "We must have gotten turned around. We didn't realize that we were in a forbidden zone. We'll just... go out of the zone."

The guard huffed. "Nice try but no one goes three miles into this area without knowing it." He gazed on the Gallifreyan for a long moment, obviously remembering something. "You're the Doctor," he realized. "Our Master has been looking for you. By order of Lothos, Minister of Justice, I order you to surrender immediately."

"Fine. I surrender," came the response from the Time Lord. "Just let my friend go and I'll come with you peacefully."

"All trespassers of forbidden zones, unless wanted by the Master, are executed on sight," the guard responded.

"What?"

Glad moved forward. "That would be assuming you can actually do it." She'd picked up a rather hefty pipe in the alleyway for protection before and now used it, swinging it with all her strength at the guard's head. The guard collapsed to the ground, blood now seeping from where she had struck.

"What have you done?!" the Doctor exclaimed, stunned by her actions.

"Self-defense. He was going to kill me." They could hear others on the way. "Now to use one of your favorite sayings... Run!" She bolted in the direction from whence they had come without waiting for the Gallifreyan to react.

The Doctor looked on the fallen guard with obvious concern but immediately shifted into defense mode as he realized she was right in her motives if not her actions. Running, he quickly caught up with her, taking the lead in their flight. He guided Glad down one alley and then another, trying desperately to stay ahead of their pursuers, whose numbers were growing exponentially with the passage of time. As he led her into yet another alley in an attempt to return to the safety of the TARDIS,he noticed a group of soldiers at the far entrance, still unaware of his presence while another group would soon be following them into the alleyway.

"Oh, this is not good," he breathed, running his hand through his hair while Glad panted in exhaustion beside him. "I'm having serious deja vu and it really is not good at all." Looking back in the direction where they had come, he could easily see that there was no going back in that direction. "We're trapped." He turned towards her and took her shoulders tightly. "You have to hide, Glad."

"No. I don't want to leave you," she said with determination.

"We don't have time to argue about this. They're coming. They're after me, not you. You heard the guard. You'd be killed on sight." He tightened his grip in her, looking harshly into her eyes. "It's dangerous for you to be with me, Glad. I can't protect you anymore. I'm sorry but I can't." Releasing her, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his psychic paper, his TARDIS key, and sonic screwdriver, shoving them into her jacket pockets. "You're small enough that you can hide and they won't find you."

"But..." she started, tears coming to her eyes.

He quickly glanced up and down the alley and then touched her face gently. "Please. I would never forgive myself if they killed you. Hide and wait until it's clear then run. Run and don't look back. Keep safe." He paused. "Glad, no matter what happens, please promise me you'll stay in hiding."

Glad looked into his eyes and nodded reluctantly. "I promise." She hid behind several large delivery boxes. There was a small area where she could see through. Within moments, a group of black leather clad soldiers marched into the area, weapons in their hands.

"Halt!" called the leader. "You will cease running and come with us by order of Lothos, Minister of Justice."

Slowly, the Doctor raised his hands, showing that he was obeying their orders. "I'm unarmed," he told them confidently.

"Where's the girl that was with you?" snarled the leader.

"She's dead," he lied. "Died from the gunshot wound one of you gave her when you were firing on us."

"Too bad. We'd just received orders that anyone with you was to be taken in as well." One of the soldiers was ordered, "Secure him. He cannot be allowed to get away this time."

The soldier marched up and grabbed the Doctor, throwing him against the wall hard before punching him in his lower back, causing him to cry out in pain.

"There's no need for that," the Time Lord told him bluntly. "I surrendered!"

"Yeah, we heard that one before," the soldier commented with cynicism as he pulled the plastic restraints tightly, cutting into the Doctor's wrists. Once they were on, he pulled the Gallifreyan roughly along. "We'll likely get a promotion for bringing you in."

The Doctor didn't reply to the bragging statement as he was marched out into the street. He never once looked back at the nineteen-year-old girl hiding in the alley, confident that she would do what she needed to be safe nor did he struggle as he was manhandled into a transport. He knew that he was being taken directly to the Master and that alone gave him some comfort because, even if the other Time Lord tormented him for the rest of his days, he at least would be reunited with his wife and child.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - Timeline 1**

 _Timeline One_

 _Melbourne, Australia_

 _June 2014_

The guards who had captured the Doctor spent their journey towards the building now known as "The Palace" tormenting the Gallifreyan, deliberating taking their time to get to the headquarters of their lord and Master so that they could entertain themselves at the Doctor's expense. After being repeatedly struck and shocked with tasers, the alien found it impossible to remain conscious.

When he awoke, he found himself in a small cell, the door of which held a small window. Looking out, all he could see was the wall of a passageway. He tried the door, not surprised to find it locked and was about to retrieve his sonic when he remembered he'd given it to Glad. The thought of her brought a sad smile to his face. He knew she would be safe but, from the way she'd swung the pipe at the guard, he knew she would likely become brutal in this world where brutality was all humans would face if they were not on the Master's side.

He sat down on the small bunk to wait, expecting the Master to come gloating at any moment...or to be dragged out of his cells by one of the minions that now served his nemesis. Quite a bit of time elapsed before he realized that neither of those things was going to happen. It angered him. The Master has taken his very pregnant wife and now apparently was content with keeping them apart. The Gallifreyan got up and went to the door, yelling into the hallway, "I wouldn't wait too long, Master. The longer you keep me in here the angrier I'm going to get!" It was no use. No matter what he did or said, the door remained closed and locked.

 _Timeline One_

 _Melbourne, Australia_

 _August 2014_

He couldn't tell exactly how much time had passed - somewhere between two or three months. Based on his beard alone, he figured two. He'd long since stopped shouting, negotiating, begging, and pleading to have his audience with the Master and to see Rose. He knew she was still alive. Their bonding saw to that although the Master had found some way to block the strength of the bond. At first he could tell she was being taken care of. Then, he could only feel her life force, but nothing else. He worried about what that meant. Was she in a coma? Was this some new filter the Master had developed? There was literally no way for him to know.

This particular morning had started off as all the others since he'd awoke in this solitary hell. He'd found breakfast in the little slot that allowed the guards to pass such things to him. Initially he'd tried not eating but had learned quickly that not eating only resulted in the Master gassing the room and thus rendering him unconscious. Each time he awoke, he'd find he'd been fed intravenously. After the third time, he decided that the migraine that came with the gas just wasn't worth the effort. Now, after finishing the meager daily meal, he was surprised to find he was being gassed again. Since he'd complied with the rule to eat, he conjectured as he fell into sleep that there was some other reason for him to be knocked unconscious. As awareness slowly returned to him, he knew he had not been mistaken. Several things immediately came to his attention, though three stood out above the rest. First was that he was no longer in his cell and the smooth surface just below him was cold. The second was that he was being watched on several sides by both organic and electronic eyes. The third was a sort of snuffling sound, like someone trying to breathe through a straw, though that wasn't quite the right description.

Taking a quick breath, he abruptly opened his eyes to see a human male standing over him, a bundle of cloth cradled in his arms in a way that told him the cloth contained another more fragile and much smaller human being. No... not human. The scent was all wrong for a human. The child in the blanket was something else, something very familiar. He wished he could figure it out but the chemical the Master had used on him apparently caused him severe memory loss. However, he did realize the child was the cause of the snuffling sound.

"Hello," he told the human male. Slowly, he struggled to his feet. "I'm the Doctor. And you are?"

"Reginald Torkinson." Not another word came from the man's lips.

"Right," the Time Lord stated. "Lovely child in your arms. What's his name?"

"The Master has named him Adalbrandr."

"Noble sword? Strange, even for the Master. I would have thought he would choose a Gallifreyan name," the Doctor commented.

"Well, with a human mother, it didn't seem right to name him like he was fully Gallifreyan," Reginald told him with a hint of a smile. "That's always bothered him about your given name as well from what I've been told."

The Doctor frowned at his words. "I'm not sure I completely understand. My given name is Gallifreyan." He hated how hard it was for him to think at the moment, feeling as if he were doing the mental equivalent of swimming in molasses.

"Yes... and your mother was human as well, now wasn't she. Hence, the choice of Adalbrandr for this child. The Master was hoping he'd be blonde like his mother... but that was before he realized she wasn't truly blonde."

"Rose," the Time Lord whispered, realization finally seeping in. It made perfect sense, when he thought about it. He'd been locked away for two or three months. Rose would have given birth by then. With a mixture of astonishment coupled with a heartache and disbelief, he took a step towards the human and extended his arms. "May I hold him?"

The response to his request came from the door on the other side of the room. "No, you may not hold him."

The Doctor turned to face his oldest friend and oldest enemy, swallowing tightly. "He's my son," he stated with conviction.

"No. You may have sired him through inferior stock, but he's my child now."

"Where's Rose? Give me my wife and my son."

"Didn't you hear me? You have no son. As to your wife? I think it would be a kindness not to give you access to her." The Master held out his arms to Reggie, who obligingly handed the child to him. "Although his start was less than stellar, under my guidance, he shall be a prince." He smiled down at the boy. "Aren't you, Adalbrandr?"

"His name is Dafydd," the father of the child said, knowing that that was the name both Rose and he had chosen. He stepped forward with intent to take the child from the Master's arms. Reggie grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back with amazing strength, causing the Gallifreyan to straighten noticeably while wincing.

"That awful Welsh name your Mum insisted on calling you? I don't think so," the Master told his childhood buddy. "Besides, David is such a common name. An extraordinary child deserves an extraordinary name. Also, Peri likes it. She has a thing for swords... and other sharp objects."

"Peri?"

"You had your inferior human; I have my superior one."

The Doctor frowned in confusion. "You married a human?"

"Does that surprise you, Thete? You who has told me from our days in the Academy how much you admire this race of apes? Except for Peri, of course. She is the exception that proves the rule." He looked towards Reggie before adding. "And Reggie too, though he's a slight level lower than my queen."

"I see. You married her because she's exceptional. Well, so is my Rose. And I want to see her."

"I wouldn't recommend it. Her... recuperation from the birth hasn't been optimal."

The Doctor glared at him with fury. "What have you done to her?"

"Me? I saved her life. The child was turned wrong and I had to intervene. Naturally, the best way to make sure that both mother and child survived was to perform surgery."

"You did a Cesarian," came the deduction. "Without even bothering to try to turn the baby the right direction."

"Like I said, the best way to make sure was to perform the surgery. Certainly you'd want the best for them? Or would you rather one or both of them died?"

"Take me to my wife," the enraged husband ordered. "Now!"

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." He indicated to Reggie that he was to take the Doctor to the woman's cell.

His assistant nodded before addressing the Doctor. "You've had a Slarn Restraint implanted in your neck. If you do anything that I have not expressly allowed, I will use this," he said, holding up a controller.

The Doctor pulled angrily from the grip that the human had him in before rubbing his wrist and glaring at the Master. "Understood," he grudgingly stated his submission. He allowed himself to be led by the assistant out the door, the Master following with a slight grin on his face.

The corridor was devoid of any humanizing elements, only door upon door, a single dark cell behind each portal. As they moved deeper and deeper into the complex, the light dimmed as well. Finally, they came to a room with a small window, not unlike the cell he'd been kept in himself. Reggie pulled out a device that he pointed to the door which clicked open. "If you turn the handle, you may now go in," he stated, his voice monotone.

The captive Time Lord glanced at the human for a moment before reaching out and turning the door handle. He slowly pushed the weighty door in, trailing behind it as he entered the dark room. From the entrance, he could see the area inside was like his cell as well. It had a thick mattress on one end, a toilet on the other, and nothing else in the way of amenities. At the far wall, her back against it and with her legs up towards her abdomen, was Rose. She had obviously lost her blonde coloring, her natural brown color taking over. Her hair was a tangled mess that indicated a lack of care. There was an unhealthy light sheen to her pale skin. When the door had opened, she had turned her head to look at who was entering but she seemed confused, an expression enhanced by the dark circles under her eyes.

"Rose," the Doctor whispered, his hearts aching to see his love in such a state. He hurried over to her, dropping to his knees in front of her.

From the door, a dry comment was heard. "Of all the apes on this planet, you chose a bleached blonde? Hardly worthy of another ape, much less a Time Lord. Still, as breeding stock, she did well enough."

The Doctor turned and glared at the Master for his words but didn't say anything as he returned his attention to his wife. "Rose," he repeated, trying to get her attention; she seemed intent on staring at the Master. Reaching up, he touched her face and gained an unexpected response.

Rose immediately started to push away from him, screaming. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me with your filthy, filthy hands. Don't you know how poisonous they are, all those little bacteria and viruses on them!"

The Time Lord blinked at her with confusion. He wondered if whatever was causing this was the reason he couldn't feel her the same way in their bond. "Rose, it's me. Your Doctor."

"All doctors are quacks," she said firmly. "Quacks and charlatans."

"I'm your husband!" he exclaimed. Again, he reached to take her hands only for her to pull further away from his touch. "Rose, what has the Master done to you?"

"He's saved me," she said with a look of utter adoration to the man standing at the door. "He took away the thing that was growing in me. Killing me."

"That thing is your son! Your only child!"

"It's dirty... and filled with death." The baby started to cry and Rose cringed away from it, grabbing her head in pain. "Take it away. I promise I'll be good. Just take it away!"

The Master handed the baby to Reggie. "Take him to his mother." Once the other man had given the Master the controller to the Slarn Restraint and left, the Gallifreyan turned to the Doctor. "You see? It was necessary for me to assume the responsibility of raising your child, Thete. She would at best have ignored him. At worst actively tried to kill him. Couldn't have that."

Slowly, shock playing on his face, the Doctor rose to his feet, backing away from his wife as tears trickled from his eyes. "This isn't the woman I fell in love with, married." His shock morphed into fury as he stated hotly, "You did this. You turned her into... this. You monster!" He then turned towards his former childhood friend, moving quickly to attack him, intent to maim clearly on his face. A second later, he screamed in agony as he dropped to his knees and then to the floor, his whole spine feeling as if it were on fire. In the background, he could hear Rose screaming in fright.

"Thete, Thete, Thete," the Master berated as he circled him. "I know you're upset by this change in your reality. But really? I'd think that caring for your insane ape would be much more productive than trying to hurt me. As you can see, that's not going to happen."

The Doctor couldn't move for a long moment as the pain finally went away. Then, cautiously, he raised himself onto his knees, licking his lips as he did so. "She won't even let me touch her, thanks to you."

"Well... I never thought I'd hear you give up in defeat. Just not like you. I'm sure you'll find a way to help her back to health. You were also so much better than me at the healing arts. I've just given you a task worthy of your skills." He looked at his former friend. "I must say, though, it's good to see you in that position. Seems right."

Once again, the Doctor gave him a glare as he forced himself to stand. He gave a sneer of a smile when he noticed the disappointment that came to the Master's visage. "I haven't given up. In fact, I've only just started. I'm going to rescue Rose and my son and then I'm going to make sure that you never harm another human being ever again."

"This from the man who has lain hidden for the last four years instead of helping us," came a familiar voice from behind. "Rose is the way she is because you abandoned her, just like you abandoned all of humankind."

The Doctor turned, stunned at the sight before him. "Jack?" He physically deflated with realization. "You're a prisoner like Rose."

"No. I pretty much have the run of the joint."

"What?" the Time Lord questioned with a frown. His eyes went from Jack to the Master's smiling face and then back. "But... how?"

"After we lost the battle at Quantum Leap - I was the sole survivor. But then, that was pretty much a guarantee - but I kept trying to fight him. After four years of literally nothing from you, watching him take over the planet while he tortured me, I thought... why am I offering my fealty to you? You don't care. Just found a little spot to live the life of Riley while the rest of the planet went to hell." He smirked. "I guess once you've betrayed your own species, it's easy to forget about anyone else."

"That isn't..." the Doctor started. "I wasn't..." He ran a hand over his face. "Jack... help me. Have you seen what he did to Rose?"

"He's tried to help her. Like I said, after you abandoned her and her son, the Master did what he could." He shook his head. "What happened to you? I thought you were..." He couldn't bring himself to say what he'd thought. "But obviously not."

"I didn't abandon her. While the Master took her, stole our child, and caused her current condition, I've been locked up in a cell someplace in this house of horrors. You have to help me rescue her and my son."

"Fool me once," Jack started but then turned to the Master. "I've been able to locate another cell from the resistance. Do you want me to take a force to bring them in?"

"Yes, Captain," the Time Lord responded with an approving nod. "The sooner we can stop this senseless violence, the sooner we can establish order."

Jack nodded his assent and turned to leave.

"Jack... don't do this," the Doctor pleaded. "We can stop him but I need your help."

The ex-Time Agent turned back. "And why would I want to stop him? He's won and now he's bringing order and peace to the planet. At least Torchwood has been found to be right. You are not the savior you always positioned yourself as. Everything has changed, Doctor. For the first time in human history, we are finally truly moving towards world peace. We can't go back to the way things were."

"Oh, Jack," the defeated alien said sadly. "If I didn't know better, I would think that the Pi Network got to you."

"Deactivated that two years ago, Doctor," the Master told him confidently. "I don't need to force people into doing what is best for them anymore."

"So... Doctor. I guess you've reaped what you've sown. The real pisser is you had to take Rose down with you." With that, Jack turned and left.

"I must say, it took awhile to tolerate him. He still makes my skin crawl but I have to admit, he's efficient." The Master shook himself physically and then turned back to the other task at hand. "Poor Doctor. All his hopes and dreams dashed," came the taunt at the Time Lord's back. "This does open up an opportunity, though." Again, the Master circled him, positioning himself between the Doctor and the door. "Join me and we can recreate our race greater than they were before."

"What of my wife... my son... the human race? I can't turn my back on them."

"Why not? As the Captain said, it would be keeping with the status quo. As to your wife... I'd suggest working on healing her. And your son is no longer yours, remember? He's mine now."

The Doctor turned his head towards the Master, his expression unreadable. "And if I cooperate... if I submit to this plan of yours... may I have my son back?"

The Master huffed a laugh. "Of course not. But perhaps if you heal her and she lets you touch her again, you'll have another. In the meantime..." He took several steps back through the door. "Have a pleasant reunion," he finished as the door slammed shut.

The Doctor turned to look at Rose and noticed that she'd moved into the far left corner of the room, as far from him as she could possibly go. He exhaled slowly, his mind already running at a hundred miles an hour on how to help Rose, get her and their son to safety, and do what he now admitted to himself he should have been doing all these years, namely saving the Earth from the Master's control. If only he hadn't ignored Glad's entreat and listened to her when she told him it was time to leave. Instead he'd done exactly what Jack said he had. He'd hidden himself away to live the life he wanted, not the life he was called to live. He turned to give Rose a smile, receiving only a fearful gaze. He slowly walked towards her, keeping himself calm so as not to scare her anymore. "Rose, I won't hurt you. I love you. How could I hurt my wife?"

"You're dirty. Filthy. Stay away from me."

He raised his hands when he realized that she wasn't going to allow him to get any nearer to her than he already was, which was only half way across the room. Even that distance, he could tell, was uncomfortable for her. "Okay," he told her gently, taking a step back. "How about I just sit here and we can talk?"

"What is there to talk about? Everything has changed. Everything."

"Not our love," he replied. "That hasn't changed, has it?"

She blinked at him in confusion, tilting her head as she regarded him. "Who are you?"

Her words were like knives being forced into his hearts. Backing into an opposite corner in shock, he dropped to the floor and pulled his legs up against his chest. He now knew for sure. It wasn't that the bond was being muffled by some trick of the Master. It was that most of it had been severed and the small string left was something only he could feel. He laid his forehead on his knees, hiding the tears and holding back the sobs as the final devastation that she didn't even recognize him settled into his gut.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Timeline 1**

 _Timeline One_

 _Melbourne, Australia_

 _April 2017_

That first day in the cell, it had taken a couple of hours before the Doctor could move from his grief-ridden fetal position. Once the immediate emotions had ebbed away, he became determined to find a way to bring his Rose back to him. He had started slowly, deciding that talking to her and gaining some of her confidence was a good idea. He'd kept his distance - primarily because Rose wouldn't allow him closer than twelve feet from her - and had seemed to be making progress that very same day when, out of what he viewed as kindness, he made the mistake of touching the tray on which Rose's dinner had been placed. Neither he nor Rose had eaten that evening as a result, since the disturbed woman refused to touch anything he had "dirtied" and the Doctor refused to eat if Rose didn't. It had taken the Doctor a whole month to convince Rose that, as long as he didn't touch it directly, her food would be safe to eat.

It took three months to move halfway closer to her. At five months, it seemed as if he were about to be able to touch her without her completely freaking out on him when the Master, with malicious mischief in his eyes, took Rose out of the cell, leaving the Doctor behind. When Rose was returned, she was even more paranoid than before, the Master having basically undone all of the Doctor's work in less than six hours' time. This pattern repeated itself over and over, the Doctor having to start from scratch in healing his Rose's fragile mind. With each repetition, while Rose seemed to be getting slowly better, the Gallifreyan's own mind was becoming more frazzled. The only good thing that came out of the whole process was the Master had given him a sonic shaver to help maintain both his and Rose's hygiene, leaving the Time Lord with only one proper option: to remove all hair from both of them. The worst thing was he could easily tell how much time had passed since he was locked in the cell with Rose - _accursed Time Lord time sense!_ \- making it all that more difficult to maintain his own slipping sanity.

 _Two years, eight months since seeing anyone other than Rose and the Master, since seeing the sun, since eating something palatable..._ he thought, his eyes closed against the urge to scream. Yet another thought came unbidden. The fact that he'd seen their child on occasion, paraded before them... well, him, since Rose only seemed afraid of the boy... by the Master at the door of their cell. It was obvious from those short moments that the boy had accepted the Master and his wife as his parents with the result that there was a cruelness now embedded in the youth even at nearly three years of age. As such, the Doctor had learned to force thoughts of how long he'd been incarcerated from his mind in favor of the immediate moment. Rose was the best she had ever been since he had started treating her for the constant up and down sanity the Master had been putting her through. She recognized him for who he was, her husband, and understood what had happened to her in the last three years - _Two years, eight months_ , the Time Lord corrected himself immediately. The problem at hand, however, was her current inability to hold down the little food she was given. For the third time in as many days, she was bent over, retching. The first two days, when he'd tried to comfort her, she'd shied away from him but today, as he moved closer to her, she allowed him to hold her. The embrace, initially wondrous in his ability to actually touch her - still a rarity even with the progress she was making - turned sinister as he felt the lumps beneath her skin. Lumps that didn't bode well for health but rather held a portance of potential doom.

Reaching over for a rag, he wetted it with a little water - a precious thing in the cell they'd shared for nearly three years - and wiped her face gently, his mind racing on what could be afflicting his wife. "Feel better?" he questioned gently. He wanted to immediately start examining her from head to toe but he figured, given her constant fragile mental state, that it wasn't wise to startle her. The last thing he needed was for her to shy away from him again.

"A little. I feel so weak, though." She gave him a small grin. "I suppose that being crazy takes a lot out of a person."

The Doctor's hearts clenched at her words. She'd referred to herself as such a lot recently once she regained most of her memories. That didn't make hearing the words coming from her mouth any easier to accept. "You're not crazy, Rose," he told her gently. "But you obviously are a little ill." Seeing the alarm on her face, he quickly, but calmly, continued. "Remember what I said. Being ill isn't necessarily a bad thing. It builds up one's immune system."

"Then why do I feel so horrible? The nausea's getting worse." She leaned into his touch, something that had hardly ever happened since he'd been reunited with her, but was happening more often recently. "You feel good," she breathed.

"You're running a bit of a fever I think," he answered. While he liked having Rose this close to him - how he wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her tightly to him - he knew that she should think his normal body temperature to be a little cool. She used to always complain about his cold feet in bed.

"Fever," she mused. "I remember Mum used to give me little orange flavored pills when I was little and had one." She looked up at him. "Did your mum ever do that with you?"

He gave her a soft smile at the thought of his mother. "Sort of. Then again, a fever for me is about normal body temperature for humans. My father was the one who determined whether or not I had a fever. Then my mother would make raspberry blansmartken tea to get me to sleep." He looked towards the only cot in the cell and guided her to it. "I think it would be a good idea for me to get a better look at you, dear. There's... well... I think you've got more than just a fever going on."

She allowed him to move her, the trust in her eyes fighting with the fears that, although greatly lessened, had been placed in her mind by his nemesis. "They're not real, right? The thoughts I have of dirt and germs and... disease... and... dying?"

Bringing her hand up to his lips, he delicately licked the back of her hand while, at the same time, smelling her skin. There was illness there, one he instantly recognized. He could taste it and smell it at the cellular level, causing his hearts to constrict tightly. He hesitated to respond to her words a little longer than he probably should have, avoiding to look in her eyes when he finally did speak. "Dirt will not cause you direct illness. Germs can but only if you don't keep reasonably clean..." he told her, repeating what he had said so many times before. He could hear his voice quivering as he spoke though and he silently cursed himself for his growing weakness of mind.

Tears started to well in her eyes. "No. They are real. That's why it hurts now, isn't it. I'm going to die."

"No," he replied with determination, finally raising his eyes to look into hers. "It wasn't dirt or germs that made you ill, Rose. It was this whole damned situation."

"So... now you're blaming the situation," a new voice responded from the door. "How so very Thete that sounds. You always did try to find the causes when things went wrong instead of just accepting that sometimes it's just the hand you've been dealt." The Master paused. "I love some of these human expressions. So colorfully... descriptive."

Upon hearing his former classmate's voice, the Doctor turned his head and glared at him, fury in his eyes. "You did this to her," he accused.

"I did nothing of the sort. The sum total of what I've done to affect your wife has been to literally mess with her mind. Some of my best work, don't you think? Peri thought so."

The infuriated Gallifreyan stood, turning towards the haughty ruler of Earth. "She wouldn't have cancer if you hadn't practically starved her, left her in this cell, treated her like an animal..." Turning to Rose, he extended his hand. "Come on," he told her, his voice gentle. "Let's get a better look at you."

Rose's eyes had become larger and the tears that had once only threatened now trickled down from them along her cheeks. Half starved and embedded in the emaciated face, those eyes normally looked like two shining jewels although now they revealed she had understood his words. "Cancer? I have cancer?" Slowly, she took her husband's extended hand.

"We can stop it," her husband responded, trying not to sound too desperate. "I need to find out exactly what kind so that I can treat it and I can only do that in a medical facility." He took a deep breath before whispering to her, "I'm not going to lose you."

The Master looked around the cell. "Medical facility, you say. Don't seem to see anything in here that could be said to resemble such a place." As he spoke he was joined by his wife, carrying the Doctor's and Rose's child. "Dear, the Doctor believes he needs to take his Rose to a medical facility. What do you think of such a request?"

"What for?" Peri questioned. She looked over the thin woman with discerning eyes. "She looks fine to me."

"Exactly. Request denied, Doctor."

Rose swallowed at the Master's response. "I'm... I'm going to die!" she exclaimed as the Doctor pulled her into an embrace. "I don't want to die! I'm only... only... Oh, gawd! I don't remember how old I am!"

The little boy laughed. "The crazy lady is funny, Mummy, and not very bright. I know how old I am," he said holding out two chubby fingers.

"And such a clever little man you are too, Addie," Peri complimented the boy, giving him a little jump to get him giggling.

"You're thirty," the Doctor murmured to the distraught woman, holding her close to him. "You turned thirty last month. And you are going to live another thirty years," he added, his voice firm once again as he started to lead her towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" the Master rumbled slightly. "I didn't say you could leave."

"I don't need your permission to save my wife's life," the Doctor countered.

"Oh, but you do, Doctor," the Master stated. "Peri, have Addie play with the toy we showed him today."

The little boy took the device that controlled the pain implants in the Doctor's neck and pushed the button. "I'm pushing the red button, Father," he chimed.

The Doctor didn't hear the boy's words over his own screams as he dropped to his knees, Rose following with fearful worry on her face.

"Stop it!" she yelled at the Master. "Make your little monster stop it!"

"Well, by definition, he would be your little monster. I've just given him a much better life," the Gallifreyan stated over the Doctor's screams. "Peri, I think Addie has done enough."

When the woman started to take the device back, Addie cried out, trying to keep the 'toy' in his hands. "But it's fun! He makes noise when I hit the red button."

"Now, sweetie, if you keep abusing your toys, you won't have any toys to play with. We'll make him make noise later," Peri told the child as she shut off the device, allowing the Doctor a chance to breathe, albeit raggedly.

Rose immediately pulled him into a tight hold. "Doctor..." she whimpered. "I don't like this nightmare. Can I wake up now? Please let me wake up."

Shakily, the Time Lord held her. "I wish we could both wake up," he said quietly. Again turning his head towards his captor - and the man he knew controlled their lives - he pleaded, "Master... she's dying. Please... have mercy."

"Mercy? You'd ask for mercy from me? You love her that much then? The little ape?"

"Yes," the Doctor stated, his voice still quaking from the pain he endured. "Whatever you want. Anything. Please... I just want her free from this agony."

"Then you shall have it. Never let it be said that the Master is incapable of mercy." He gestured towards the door, as if inviting them to exit.

A sigh of relief escaped the Doctor's lips. He turned his head towards Rose, kissing her gently before clumsily getting to his feet, helping her to do the same. "Everything will be fine, now," he told her, slowly starting her towards the door again.

A shot rang out behind them and Rose slumped against her husband as she fell out of his grip and to the floor, her blood staining the Doctor's now ragged clothing. There was no sound other than the ringing caused by the loud noise. Rose had certainly never known what was coming nor felt her final moment of life.

It took less than a second for the Doctor to realize that Rose had been shot through the head but it felt like eternity. He could feel parts of her on his skin, smell her blood in the air, feel her body slide down the length of his frame, and hear her heart stop a few seconds later. He was frozen in his tracks, the reality that Rose was gone forever entering his mind like a knife blade. When he was finally able to move, it was sheer anger that propelled him towards the Master, sliding to him on his knees as he grabbed his enemy's wrist. For a moment, it seemed that he was trying to wrestle the weapon from the Master's grip. It startled both the Master and Peri when, instead, he steadied the gun, still in the Master's hand, to his own head, point blank between his eyebrows.

"Now have mercy on me, you bastard! Do it!" the Doctor shouted, hatred dripping with every word.

"Only one request for mercy granted per day, Doctor. You've reached your quota." The Time Lord roughly pulled his hand from the grieving man's hold, leaving the latter shaking as tears dripped from his eyes.

Addie had watched the events enthralled. He clapped his hands in glee. "Mummy, make them do it again!"

"Sorry, sweetie. This kind of show only happens once. The crazy lady is dead."

"No more toy?" he asked, disappointment filling him.

"You still have the Doctor toy," she assured him. "Daddy will see you have that toy a long, long time."

"Okay, Mummy." He yawned. "I'm tired now. Can we leave?"

"Guess it's nap time for our little prince," Peri commented to her husband, going over to give him a kiss on the lips. "Catch up with us, darling. Don't be late." To the boy, she instructed, "Give Daddy a kiss."

The boy complied and, as they left, he commanded, "Don't break my toy, Daddy."

The Master saluted his adopted son with one finger, giving him a wide grin. Waiting until his family had disappeared from sight, he turned to his prisoner, watching the tears rolling down his cheeks. "Don't you see, Thete? You will never win because you're not willing to play the game in all its ugliness. Even when you choose to kill, it's always for a noble purpose. That's why I'm stronger than you are."

The Doctor didn't respond to the goading, still shaking. He didn't know why the nightmare wasn't ending. The man with the gun just wouldn't shut up. Well, if he couldn't wake up, he'd just have to wrap himself with his dreams. They could protect him and, there, he could continue to live with Rose as he'd wanted. That's where they were safe from everything and nothing could hurt him again. Crawling back over to Rose's form, he lowered himself to the floor and pulled his wife close to him, nestling his face into her shoulder. "Everything's okay now. We're safe, darling," he whispered. He didn't even realize that the form he was holding didn't have a heartbeat.

The Master looked down on his handwork. "Addie will be so angry. It looks like Daddy broke his toy after all."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 - Timeline 1**

 _Darjeeling, India_

 _Timeline One_

 _July 2063_

Much had changed with Planet Earth in the last forty-six years. With the conquest of the planet completed thanks to the Doctor's final and grief-stricken surrender, the Master ensured that he had complete control without interference from Lothos, who was methodically decommissioned. His first step was to create a new Time Lord race, thanks to carefully breeding between humans and Time Lords. In addition, he used his own knowledge of Gallifreyan technology to genetically alter loyal human subjects into Gallifreyans. As a result, the spread of the newly developed species spread over the Earth rapidly, prompting the Master to rename the planet into something far more appropriate.

Jack Harkness turned a corner in the new Palace and walked onto the Master's office floor. As he continued to where he would have his most current 'audience' with the Master, he was literally bumped by a tall, dark haired man with light chocolate eyes. Even though he was the one bumped, he immediately apologized, "Prince Adalbrandr, excuse me. I should have been watching where I was going."

"Yes, you should have," the Prince told him derisively. "I suppose you're here to see Father."

"Yes, Your Highness. I have good news for him. We're close to capturing Caladfwlch."

"Again?" Addie said with a roll of his eyes. "How close are you this time? As close as you were in Beijing?" he questioned sarcastically.

"I believe His Majesty has determined that wasn't my fault. How did I know the Sontaran ship was going to land right in middle the Forbidden City parkland? No one believed anyone, not even Caladfwlch, could have survived that conflagration."

"Are you saying Father was wrong to utterly destroy them?"

"No, Your Highness. Of course not. The fact that he did means the Sontarans have given us a wide berth and others who may wish to do New Gallifrey harm are warned away by the burnt and barren land around the wreckage."

The Prince snorted slightly at his words, obviously disappointed that the Captain hadn't taken the bait but, at the same time, not surprised that he hadn't. "Yes. I suppose you aren't at fault. You are, after all... only human." The last word was said as if the syllables left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Thank you, Prince Adalbrandr. Your understanding is quite kind." The words sounded completely sincere.

The Royal heir to the throne of New Gallifrey gave a small, self-important smile. "Yes. It is." He quickly changed the subject. "Do you know if the Inquisitor is in the medical ward?"

"I truthfully don't know, Sire. As I recall, the Empress is having her tour of the gardens today. He may have chosen to escort the Lady Palisia to that." Jack paused. "I'm surprised you are not there since the Empress is so fond of your presence at such events."

"Flowers bore me," Adalbrandr said with a sigh. He seemed to think about Jack's words for a moment. "Mother does tend to brood if I'm not at her little excursions though. I suppose I'll have to show."

"Excellent idea, Sire," Jack agreed. As the Prince walked off, Jack chuckled inwardly. If his plan didn't work today, he'd likely be killed by the Prince yet again. Adalbrandr was going to be angrier than a bear that'd had his honey taken from him when he learned the garden event was not scheduled until the following day. Still, dying again was a small price to pay to ensure that the man he had once known as the Doctor wasn't harmed once more by his malicious and ungrateful child. The last time the Prince met with the Inquisitor, the latter had to be hidden from public view for twenty-four hours while the most visible of his bruises healed.

Once he was at the door of the Master's suites, he knocked to have the door answered by a well-trained Gallifreyan guard. He wasn't surprised to find the Councilor – formerly known as Reginald Torkinson - and the Master in the sitting area, discussing the latest advances in SIDRAT development - a variation on time travel similar to TARDISes. From what he understood, they were within five years of having a fully operational one.

"Sire, I have some very good news," Jack started when given permission to enter, bowing as he spoke.

"I could use some good news," the Master commented, facing the immortal man.

"We have captured one of Caladfwlch generals, Joan Smith. She is currently residing in a cell in the Empress' dungeon, awaiting interrogation. I believe that having the Inquisitor prepare her would be most helpful in extracting the information you've desired for so long. The end of the rebellion is at hand."

The Master grinned broadly at his words and then gave a pleased laugh, standing and clapping his hands in excitement. While his Chief of Security had been in London for an outrageous amount of time, several hours of it without any contact with Red Team, this most definitely made the breach of protocol well worth it. "Yes! Absolutely, yes! Send Thete down! Better hurry, though. Addie left in a tiff and you know what that usually means."

Jack dryly answered. "Yes, Master. I am well aware of Prince Adalbrandr's propensity to use him as a whipping boy." He pursed his lips slightly. "I told him the Empress' Garden Tour was today. I believe he may be headed there to meet her."

The Master ticked his tongue. "Jackie-boy... You're going to get yourself beheaded again."

"Or worse. Yes, I know, but if I hadn't, we wouldn't be able to move as quickly in preparing the rebel general. For best results, the Inquisitor's preparation is worth the deception."

The Councilor nodded. "Yes. Who knows how long we would be in breaking the prisoner without the Inquisitor's services if you hadn't. Good work."

Jack bowed his head to the Time Lord. "Thank you, Lord Councilor." He turned again to the Master. "With your permission, Your Majesty, I shall retrieve the Inquisitor."

"Oh, you have my permission, Captain," the Master responded. "You definitely have my permission."

"Thank you, Sire." Jack bowed again and began to back away. He stopped in mid-movement as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh and, Master. I hope you don't mind too much but I've had a statue commissioned in your honor to replace the one that was destroyed in Nova Astrel. I've asked the children's professors to have them there to witness this correction of the rebel's handiwork, along with some parental chaperones. They are currently on an overnight field trip to assure that the media has an opportunity to catch them in their best light."

The Ruler of New Gallifrey raised an eyebrow. "That's rather... unexpected of you, Captain. I can't say that I'm disappointed, however." He smiled. "It would be a good experience for the children. A chance to see their world while under close observation to ensure they are safe. I am assuming that you sent your best guards to watch over them?"

"Of course," the Chief stated. He knew that Galadriel had made sure that no harm would come to the children. They had set that up before he'd brought her back to India in chains. The Gallifreyan guards that he'd chosen to watch them were ones he knew respected the Inquisitor. That would be necessary if their plan succeeded.

"Excellent. Thank you, Captain. That is most considerate. I will make sure that you are publicly commended," the Master told him.

"Thank you, Master. I've always felt that having the previous statue so easily destroyed by the misguided rebels was a blot on my record. I'm glad I'm able to do something to rectify it."

"Yes. I imagine you are," came the considering response. "Weren't you going somewhere?"

"Yes. To find the Inquisitor, Your Majesty. With your permission?"

In reply, the Master just flicked his wrist towards the door to dismiss his subject.

Jack quickly exited the room and headed immediately to the area of the Palace he knew the Inquisitor was likely to be found. If he had no other duties, his mistress' apartments were his preferred area for repose. He shook his head at the way things had changed since he'd been the man's companion. Then, the Doctor had been almost monk-like in his chastity. Now, the man had a wife - albeit a Time Lord of the Master's choosing to provide the proper decorum - and a mistress, a simple Gallifreyan woman who tended to him with great affection. Once at the door, he ran the chimes, answered by a young girl in a very old fashioned maid's outfit.

"Lord Harkness," the girl greeted with surprise, curtseying to him with deference.

"Captain Harkness is fine. Not a Lord and unlikely to become one," he stated with a smile. "Is the Doctor in residence?"

The servant, knowing that the Captain was prone to call her mistress' lover by the moniker, hesitated. "He's... indisposed at the moment, Captain."

"Really hate to break that up. I know how delicious the feeling is but I'm on a mission from the Master." He paused. "And Prince Addled just might figure my ploy out this time."

She smiled up at the man's twinkling eyes. "Then it may be wise for you to wait in the parlor." She stepped to the side to allow him to enter. "I will inform Mistress of your arrival."

"Thank you, Finai," he responded moving inside as she closed the door behind him.

Gesturing towards the parlor, she invited, "Won't you please rest? I will return shortly." With another curtsey, she left his side and went further into the apartments, disappearing behind a door. Several minutes later, a thin young woman emerged, a robe wrapped around her frame.

"Jack, is this really necessary? Thete just got away from the medical bay after stitching up Lenam's leg. The boy thought it was a good idea to play jump-rope on the Palace wall. Naturally, Thete gave him an earful about it. You would think he'd be a little more responsible but..." She sighed. "He is Thete's son."

"Lenam's not the brightest of the family," Jack said kindly, knowing the boy... her son with the Doctor... had taken from her side. He was quite kind but was a bit slower than most of the new Gallifreyans and, as such, she hadn't allowed him to go with the other children. He hesitated. "The Master has a job for the Doctor to do in the dungeon. New prisoner." He then looked into her eyes. "He'll likely be gone all day. Perhaps you could organize a picnic, take Lenam out for some fresh air. Finai could help. I'm sure some of your friends and their families would like that as well. The flowers are in bloom in the south meadow. I've even already arranged everything. All you have to do is go."

"The south meadow is twenty miles away and outside the shield," she reminded him. "Besides, unless we spent the whole day there, it would hardly be worth the effort."

"What effort? I've already taken care of everything. All you need to do is get on the transport and go. Like I said, the Doctor will be gone at least that long. You know how much he likes the smell of the lilies. Reminds him of the one's he used to grow in his TARDIS. Bringing them back would be a kindness."

"A picnic," she said, suspicion in her voice. "In the south meadow. In the middle of the day."

"Yes. And take your closest friends and their families. The rest of the court will be planning the Master's next conquest and the Empress' garden party isn't until tomorrow so there's no point in not going."

The Doctor's mistress leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. "You've got an odd look in your eyes, Jack Harkness. What are you up to?"

Leaning forward, he gestured with his hands as he spoke. "Martisali, it's a beautiful day for a picnic and the Doctor has been called to serve the Master. I think twenty minutes is plenty of time to gather everyone that you'd be inviting, don't you?"

Martisali was prevented from answering when a third person entered the room. "This had better be the Master wanting me," the Doctor complained as he finished smoothing the folds of his attire, court robes as were appropriate for his position. "I'm really not in the mood for the Prince's attitude." He looked up into Jack's eyes and noticed a look he hadn't seen for a long while. "What is it?"

Jack quickly concealed the subterfuge from his eyes. "I brought in a prisoner. One of Caladfwlch's generals. She needs to be prepared for interrogation. Once you're finished with her, the end of the rebellion will be at hand."

"I imagine the Master's ecstatic about that," the Time Lord replied, though there was no happiness in his voice.

"He is. The Councilor as well. Prince Adlebrain isn't so sure."

The Doctor glared at the former Time Agent. "Respect, Captain," he warned, reaching for the gloves that Martisali handed to him and slipping them on.

"Sorry. It's just that I'm likely to lose my head again. Not something I look forward to." Jack looked at the Doctor's hands, remembering how the Time Lord had nearly lost them. Now whenever in public, the Doctor covered the constant reminder of Prince Adalbrandr's cruelty with gloves. If Jack hadn't pushed the Prince out of the way and neutralized the hydrofloric acid that the evil boy had poured on them - to the amusement of the Prince and his twisted buddies - there would have been permanent nerve damage as well.

"It'll attach itself just like the last time," the Doctor told him, referring to Jack's head.

"Yes, but it'll hurt like hell when it does."

"You wouldn't be losing your head if you showed respect."

Martisali sighed in frustration. "Thete, drop it. You don't have time to get into yet another argument." She walked up to him and draped her arms over his shoulders. "I love you but that stubborn head of yours is going to get you into trouble some day."

"Again," Jack added.

Martisali looked over to the human. "You keep him safe or I'll take off your head myself."

The Inquisitor frowned at her words. "I'm just going to the dungeon, Martisali. Besides, the Master won't allow harm to come to me."

Jack didn't answer the woman but his eyes spoke to the truth that he would protect the other at all costs.

Martisali was surprised by the intensity. Something was definitely up. While Jack had guarded the Master's dominion over the many years she had known him, if push had come to shove, the human was clearly on the side of the Royal Family. Now, she wasn't so sure that her lover wouldn't take top priority in his loyalties, especially after practically ordering her to grab her family and friends and "get the hell out of Dodge", as he would say. "I'll see you later, darling," she told the Doctor. "I think I'll go and get some of the lilies you so enjoy."

"Aren't those in the south meadow?" he questioned. "Bit of a trip."

"It's worth it if it soothes your brow, dearest."

He gave her a gentle smile. "You make my life. You know that," he told her before kissing her. "Better go. I'll see you tonight. That is if my witch of a wife doesn't hold me down."

Jack wisely said nothing but led the Time Lord to their destination. Neither of the men spoke during their walk. Their easy friendship had been strained years before, both of them somewhat at fault. However, the more pressing reason had been the Master's manipulation of both of their minds. While the wedge that had been placed in Jack's mind was gone, thanks to Galadriel, the one in the Doctor's was still firmly in place. Still, as they approached the dungeons, Jack needed to say something since, if he failed in his task, it was unlikely he would ever see the light of day or any of the people he'd been with since the day he'd joined the Master's side. "You know you weren't to blame for any of this. For Rose. For the Earth."

The Time Lord's eyes faded as the Captain spoke, uncertain about the ex-Time Agent's absolution. "I've already paid my debts, Jack. I'm loyal to the Master. There's no need in testing that."

"I know. I should have seen long ago what the truth was. I needed my eyes opened before I found grace."

"So, now you've embodied John Newton?" the Inquisitor questioned sarcastically. "Was blind but now you see?"

Jack stopped and took the Doctor by his shoulders, looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Doctor. For all of it. I failed you in your darkest hour." He swallowed. "We're here. Be gentle." The latter was said loud enough for whoever was inside to hear.

The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow at his words. "Right," he responded with an elongated drawl, his eyes showing a mixture of confusion, concern, and sorrow, Jack's words bringing up emotions he'd forced down for so long he hadn't known they were still there. Turning to the cell door, he released the catch and opened it, glancing at Jack before stepping in, erasing all traces of kindness from his features and replacing them with the stern look of the Oncoming Storm.

Jack watched the door close. "I'm gone. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he called back once more, moving quickly from the area.

The Oncoming Storm immediately vanished as the Inquisitor turned his head towards the door in astonishment. He gaped for a moment, his confusion now complete with the immortal man's total disregard of protocol and obvious transformation. He didn't know what had gotten into the Captain but the man who had just escorted him to this cell was not the man he'd known for the last fifty-something years. In fact, it was almost as if… Closing his eyes briefly to regain control of his already fraying understanding of reality as he knew it, he quickly refocused on the matter at hand and turned towards the prisoner, once again putting on the dark look he'd worn a moment before.

"Oh, please. You don't scare me with those eyes. You tried to use them too many times to dissuade me from ice cream," the woman stated from her perch on the single bunk. She was totally calm and had a slight smile on her face.

The look vanished again, instantly replaced with a frown. "Ice cream?" he questioned, his tone indicating that he wondered what the woman was talking about.

"Yeah. I had a problem with sweets. Well, I didn't think it was a problem but you did."

His frown continued, obviously still at a loss. "If this is a tactic to try to discourage me, it won't work. You will answer our questions and you will do so quite willingly, I assure you."

"What do you want to ask me? I've never lied to you before, Doctor, and I don't intend to now." She looked at him sadly. "He's really taken away your memories. That was cruel."

Fear flitted into his eyes. "Where did you hear that name?" he demanded. He didn't know who this woman was but there was only one person who ever called him Doctor and never with such affection... _Wait. Jack said it differently today. What is going on here?_ "How do you know that name?"

"Doctor, you told me that was your name when we met in that drafty castle corridor. When I told you my name, you were amazed it means the same as your granddaughter. Susan. Do you remember Susan?"

"You're obviously delusional. Not surprising, given your association with the rebels." He forced himself to refocus his thoughts, not allowing the prisoner to distract him from his duties. Crossing his arms and gripping his biceps with his gloved hands, he demanded, "Tell me about Caladfwlch. Where is she hiding?"

"In plain sight as a good sword should," the woman answered, drawing her hair behind a very elflike ear.

The Inquisitor's eyes were instantly drawn to the slightly unusual appendage. His facial expression softened for a moment, almost as if he were trying to recall where he had seen such before but unable to do so. Sniffing tightly, he straightened. "Riddles won't help you. If you do not reply frankly and honestly, you will be severely punished."

"Like I told you, I will answer your questions truthfully. I didn't say you wouldn't have to think about them," she finished sarcastically.

Deciding that regular interrogation wouldn't work on this woman, he concentrated on her mind and looked into her eyes. "You will tell me everything I want to know," he commanded, using the unique telepathic skills that all Time Lords had.

"Yes... and again... I'm answering your questions. The fact that you either fail to ask the right ones or fully understand my answers isn't my problem."

He glared at her, stunned by his lack of progress. "Why aren't you succumbing to my influence? No one can withhold direct information from me but you seem to be able to."

"You told me I was a natural telepath." She got up from her bunk and took a step towards him. "Doctor, I can help you. I know you don't believe me, but I can."

"My name is the Inquisitor," he told her firmly. "And if you take another step, I will summon the guards. They enjoy showing the gentry their place."

"The guards will not come," she said simply.

He huffed a conceited laugh. "You must enjoy pain," he commented, going to the door. Raising his voice, he called for the guards, smiling cruelly at the woman. When he received no response, he frowned. Trying the door, he found it locked from the outside. "Harkness," he growled angrily.

"Don't be mad at Jack. He's going to try to do what Sam used to. Make right what has gone wrong or at least as much of it as can be done now." She looked at him with a tilt of her head. "Do you remember Sam?"

He laughed again, this time without any humor. "Oh, it's just like Harkness to lock me in a cell with a madwoman. When the Master hears of this, both of you will be skinned alive."

She moved another step to him. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I was hoping that I could spur your memory with words and thus meet Jack's request to be gentle. You always have been such a stubborn and imperious man. I wish those weren't the parts you kept."

"And you confirm that you are consorting with Harkness against a member of His Majesty's Royal Court. He'll be buried alive for this. And you, my dear, will be fortunate if you ever see the light of day after a week's worth of torture."

Glad moved quickly towards him now, so quick he was unable to block her from taking his head in her hands. "Remember," she said firmly.

The Inquisitor, startled by her sudden actions, was in mid-motion to force her away from him when the single word ripped through his mind. He physically choked, his hearts constricting tightly as the woman slowly stepped from him. Immediately, a cry of sheer agony forced its way through his lips as he dropped to his knees, his gloved hands gripping his head. When he could finally gain enough breath to form words, he gazed with terrified eyes up at her. "What... what have... you done... to me?"

"Do you know who I am, Doctor?" she asked kindly.

The question itself made him shrink away from her. "No! D... don't m...make me..." His dark eyes filled with tears. "Please... it hurts."

"I know and I'm sorry it must be that way. He's built a world that you've lived in for so long. He made you something you were never meant to be. I wish I could've come earlier... but I still had so much to learn... and... I needed Jack."

"J... Jack," he replied, his voice cracking. "He h... hates the... the Doctor. I... I am... the... Inqui... Inquisitor. The D... Doctor be... betrayed humanity. I h... help people."

"You didn't betray them. You just wanted to have a life with her. How many times had you saved this planet before? How many times did you keep us safe from utter annihilation? You may have picked a bad time to do it, but you deserved a chance to be happy."

Her words brought the tears that had been threatening to escape running down his cheeks. "R... Rose. I... killed her," he whispered, sorrow in every syllable. "I asked him to k... kill her."

"That's not the story I heard. You asked for mercy and he chose to answer that in his own twisted way."

"I sh... should have known better," he stated, shaking his head slowly. "I..." He cried out in pain, gripping his head again. "Please! Make it stop! I don't... I don't want to remember."

"But you must. The time for healing is at hand. Gaia will rise to keep the best of Earth and Gallifrey. A new day shall dawn for the inhabitants of this planet. They _shall_ know freedom."

From the expression on his face, it was clear that the pain he had been in was receding quickly as a part of him cracked and he stopped fighting the onslaught on his mind. He slowly raised his eyes to her, recognition finally seeping into them. "I... I know you. I think. Galadriel?" His eyes widened, recognition being quickly replaced with awe and fear of the power she clearly now held. "What are you?"

She slowly lowered herself so that she was at eye level with him. "I am what was inevitable after you set me on my path. You knew there was something within me although you didn't know what it was." She nodded to the bunk. "Shall we sit and I'll tell you what I've learned since you left the TARDIS in my hands?"

"I'm not sure I want to know," he admitted, clearly frightened. "What you did... no human could do. A Time Lord, yes. Or a..." The fear and awe returned to his eyes again. "There are old stories of a race of beings that made Time Lords look like mere children with their mental abilities. Some Time Lords even regarded them on the level of gods. But... they were just stories... unless... are you one of them?"

"No... not exactly. I'm only a demigod," she joked. Seeing his reaction, she added with a smile, "My father was fully human but my mother was a Philocalist."

The Gallifreyan stared at her, stunned by the revelation. It made perfect sense, though. Ever since he had met Glad in Camelot, he'd always known that she was special. All of her stories she had told her about her childhood - how her mother and father had warned her to hide her abilities and how she had a very secluded life on the farm. That and the fact that she had been growing psychically from the moment he met her. She had obviously had great skill even before that as well. He should have realized she couldn't possibly be completely human, especially since there were no Rifts anywhere near where she was raised.

She put her hands out to comfort her friend knowing from his reaction that this was a bit much even for him to accept in one shot. "I'm still your Galadriel, Doctor. I will always be." She took his face in her right hand to force him to face her again. "My powers are secondary to who I am in here," she finished, putting her left hand over her heart. "Just as what the Master did to you is secondary to who you are."

"I..." he started. He didn't seem to be able to speak anymore for a long moment. "I don't know what to think anymore. I don't know who I am anymore." He raised his hands to move hers from his face but stopped at the sight of the black gloves he constantly wore. He deflated physically, leaning his shoulder against the nearest wall. "I'm not the man I was. I've done things. Horrible things. My eldest son... my Rose's son... is a monster. The Master... he's taken everything from me."

"Yes," Glad agreed, sadly. "If I could have stopped what happened, I would have but... I hadn't learned how to control my mind, my abilities when the Master first took over. I did what I could to keep the rebellion alive. I wish I could have done more."

"As Caladfwlch," the Doctor stated knowingly. He gazed into her eyes. "You shouldn't have come for me. He'll kill you. You're the most wanted person in the world and he won't be any happier for your... opening my mind." He didn't bother telling her that he wasn't happy with her actions either. While he knew he had himself once again, the altered reality he had been living in at least had some perks he wasn't sure he had anymore.

"Today, the Master falls, Doctor. The rebellion will end and the Master shall not prevail any longer."

He gave a sad laugh of disbelief. "I'm glad that you have such faith, my dear, but the Earth has fallen. New Gallifrey has risen. There's no going back."

"No going back is true. Correcting the injustices that have been wrought upon us, is the only solution to what has been created. Are you pleased with the way the new Time Lords rule? The new Gallifreyans? The humans in bondage?"

"How could you even think I might be pleased with that?" he asked with disgust. "I'm appalled! But there's little I can do."

"There is everything you can do. When the Master falls, the people of Gaia will need a new leader, one who will treat them with the respect they deserve and who will be just."

"Gaia? What has any of this have to do with the Greek embodiment of Mother Earth?"

"Earth is gone. Gallifrey cannot rule. However, we can have a new beginning by uniting both to form a new people. The Gaian's will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of our people... the ones that we both hold dear." She knelled before him. "Heil to our once and future king."

Seeing and hearing her adoration of him, he moved away from her, shocked. "Whoa whoa whoa! No. I am not Arthur and I don't want to _be_ Arthur. Absolutely, positively and irrevokably _no_."

She stood, smiling. "You do know exactly who you are now."

His eyes widened as he ran his hand through his hair only to find it didn't feel right. Where was the fabulous hair he once had? Now it was... greased down and... _boring_! Moving his hand to his jaw, he groaned in dismay. "Ugh! The sideburns are gone! But..." he started, feeling his way through the words.

"Are you feeling well, _Inquisitor_?" she questioned, her words pitched with a satirical lilt.

He glared at her. "I'm not the Inquisitor... I'm the Doctor," he told her firmly as he stood tall.

"Yes, you are."

He shook his head slightly. "And you, Galadriel Thatcher, are a manipulative little imp."

"Manipulative? Me? Well, maybe a little..." She paused a beat. "Well... a bit more than a little..." She sighed. "Okay. Fair cop."

The Doctor laughed with delight at her words. "Come here, you!" he demanded, his arms wide to her. When she rushed into his arms, he gave her a tight hug. He then pulled away and fingered her silver hair. "What's with the hair? Mind you, I love silver but you can't be that old. You don't look a day over forty."

"My mother's hair turned silver when she was young. Mine started to change not long after..." She took a breath and let it out, sadness in her eyes, "... we... parted."

"I'm sorry about that. But I wanted you safe, especially after losing Maggie... and Rose."

"I know." Her eyes grew dark and ominous. "And he will pay for what he's done."

"Glad... what are you planning?" the Doctor questioned, a knot growing in his stomach. He once more felt the fear that had come with learning what she was.

A beep came from her cloak and she pulled out a small communications device. Looking at it, she put it back. "It's almost time. All those who need to be beyond the barrier are safe. Just waiting for the second signal." She then revealed her pendant. "Do you remember this?"

"The pendant Merlin gave you," he said immediately. He looked more carefully at the necklace. "The Eye's gone." A look of foreboding came to his face. "Glad, where's the Eye?"

"Jack has it." She took left his wrist and started to wrap the chain around it.

"He's going to merge it with the Master's Eye," he realized as she acted. "But... that's murder!" He pulled his hand away. "You can't! You'll kill everyone in this building! Dozens of people! My son! I won't let you do this, Glad."

"Doctor, you once made a terrible choice because you knew it was what was best for the whole universe. Do you expect me to do less? I'm sorry it must be but there is no other way."

"I expect you to be better than me! What I did... I should have looked for a better solution!"

"There was no better solution and you know that's why you chose that path. Sometimes, going through hell is the only way to the other side, especially when all other paths have been blocked. I've already tried everything I could to do this less drastically but I failed and now we don't have a choice. We must take this action. Besides, we're locked in this cell with no way out." There was a second beep. "We're out of time."

He glanced towards the door, desperation on his face. Turning back to her, he ordered. "Stop him, Glad! There's still time!"

Frustrated and knowing time had run out, she grabbed his wrist tightly. "I can't stop him. I'm so sorry," she told him. Touching his temple with her free hand, she ordered, "Sleep." A second later, he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Glad moved to the floor with him and wrapped the chain around his and her wrist. She knew the pendant would have to touch both of them completely so she put it on his abdomen and laid over him. They stayed like that for the next twenty seconds and then everything went dark and the muffled sound of an extreme explosion reached her ears. "I'll find you, Jack. I promise," she whispered. A moment later, the cumulating concussive wave sent the half-alien woman into unconsciousness.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Timeline 2**

 _Project Quantum Leap_

 _Stallion's Gate, New Mexico_

 _April 5, 2010_

Jack looked out into the desert knowing that today his plans would either work or they wouldn't. He knew that Sam's life depended on it and, if the Master won, a lot more people than him. On the plus side, choosing to leap six months into the past had prevented him from seeing more of the horrible reality that the world had become thanks to the Master. He felt sorry for the 'Jack' that had to face that without benefit of knowing what was coming. He wondered what that timeline led to, what had happened to that 'Jack'. He'd been too afraid to use any of the tools that had come through the Rift that showed future events. Somehow he was sure he wouldn't like it.

This had been a strange six months for sure. After leaping into himself in Australia and being led to transportation from the land Down Under by Nego, he had to go through the next several months more or less how he remembered them, not an easy task when you weren't always paying attention. He thus found that things were slightly different but mostly the same. He'd had to be extra careful about letting on what things would come through the Rift or else be accused of being clairvoyant. It had been difficult.

He'd made it back to the project just in time to see Sam and the Doctor meet. He also had to hold his tongue at the project to allow what he knew would happen to happen. On the other hand, he'd shown greater patience when the Doctor and Sam had ended up having to take the trip to ancient Egypt. All in all, it had been a study in time.

One thing he had taken on was sending materials to the Project to prepare. That had started almost immediately. He'd had to tell Al that with the greater space at the project not being used, it made sense to warehouse some things. Al hadn't been happy about it but he accepted it.

The last two weeks, though, had been more problematic. He'd told Al that he'd offered select UNIT and US military personnel some of the space to have a joint exercise in the identification of alien technology. He told him that his Torchwood staff would be leading a number of the classes. He'd also called in a Dr. Grace Holloway to explain the strange realities of alien physiology. Al had just about blown a gasket, reminding him that this was a project that needed to be kept under strict secrecy. Jack had simply told Al that it wasn't a problem and he should really learn to trust him. Then he'd told him he and Rose had to go or they'd miss their flight, thereby cutting off any argument from the ex-Admiral.

Before he and Rose had left, he'd prevented the Project from losing its power this time by entering code into Ziggy. Thanks to the new code in Ziggy's programming, Gooshie hadn't been able to even try to go back to help Sam, thus preventing the events that led to PQL being overtaken by the Pi Network. Jack had also been more circumspect about his and Rose's time in the Virgin Islands. Thus neither Al or Sam's Ex were up in arms about his tarnishing the name of one Dr. Samuel Beckett. He really didn't get that. Sure, Dr. Beckett didn't swing that way but tarnish pointed to such a strong emotion. He just didn't get 21st century sexual morals. That had meant, though, that they didn't have to go to Miami and thus, Rose wouldn't have had to find out violently how she had changed him. He'd figured that would eventually happen though and decided that maybe telling her about it would be a good idea. He'd done so on the private beach they had outside their villa. He still wasn't sure if she really believed him.

They'd even missed the bad weather in Atlanta by flying back a couple of days early. That had meant the whole Chicago fiasco had been avoided, including raiding the graveyard which he knew wouldn't leave those nightmare memories for Grace and Rose. The only down side to missing that was they didn't meet Paul this time around. But then at least he was safer away from Project Quantum Leap. Or so Jack hoped.

When Grace came out and wrapped her arms around him, he smiled. He'd told her when she arrived what had happened and what was going to happen. He didn't tell Rose, though, knowing that if they failed, she'd return to the Doctor but only because the man whose aura she inhabited was dead due to a forcible return to the project. Rose wouldn't deal well with that idea. "I've done everything I can to plan for what we're going to face this time around, Grace. I hope it's enough."

Grace regarded Jack's silhouette with concern. Usually when the ex-Time Agent had a plan, he was overconfident and not a little bit cocky. Now he was unusually withdrawn. "It'll be enough." Seeing that her words hadn't brought him comfort, she held him a little more closely. "Okay, there's something wrong. What is it?"

Jack turned in her arms to look at her. It was strange, being with her like this again. They'd been both bad and good for each other back at Torchwood. That had meant incredible sex, of course, but he knew she was happier being a doctor working for UNIT in her own country. "Nothing. I just hope this time that things won't turn out the way they have before. You know what the Doctor always says. Wibbly wobbly..."

"Timey whimey," Grace completed with a smile.

"We'd better get back. All hell's about to break loose."

"He's out there right now, isn't he," she commented, stepping away from him to gaze out into the desert just as he was. "The Master's out there." Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Guess it's time to hold down the fort, then." She turned and started back into the complex, knowing that Jack would follow and would secure the entrance. They took the elevator down, not surprised to find Admiral Calavicci waiting to talk with Jack.

Seeing Jack and Dr. Holloway had returned from the surface, Admiral Calavicci was chomping on the proverbial bit. It was bad enough that the project was being overrun with unauthorized personnel, military or not, but then Jack was acting uncharacteristically like the type of officer he'd always considered a horse's ass. "Jack...we need to talk." He glanced at Grace before returning his attention to Jack. "Alone." He headed to the smaller conference room used by Control Room staff.

"Status report," ordered Jack as they walked into the room.

"First thing's first," Al retaliated. Once inside the room with the door closed, he turned energetically. "What the hell's going on?! For months you've sent mountains of unknown materials here and told me to store it without telling what the hell I was storing. Then you basically open the complex as if we are having an open house to unauthorized military personnel. Something's going on and I think I deserve an answer."

"You do and I'll explain it all in a minute, Al, but like you say, first thing's first. Have you been monitoring the training like I asked you to?"

Seeing that Jack wasn't going to give him the answers that he wanted just yet, Al exhaled in frustration but nonetheless complied. "Yes, although I don't see why any of this will be in the least bit helpful to this project." Jack just stared and Al continued. "Tosh and Ianto are busy teaching everyone about something called a weevil, last I heard. I wasn't able to stay for the class and no one would tell me what it was. Sounds like something I don't want anywhere near my closet."

"Trust me. You don't," Jack told him, though his expression hadn't changed. "What about Sam?"

"The last time I was in the Imaging Chamber, I told Sam that Ziggy received news reports that Harold Saxon was about to flip the final switch for Pi. Then Sam, for some reason, had me ask Ziggy to calculate the value of pi to its last decimal and then told me to shut off the project completely from any outside influence and to post guards to prevent entry from anyone I didn't approve. He also told me to get everyone's immediate family into the complex. I think he's gone off his rocker."

"Anything else?" Jack asked not commenting on the critique of the time traveling physicist's state of mind.

Al glared at him for the obvious lack of concern for Sam's mental well-being but nonetheless swallowed back the tirade he was about to initiate. "The Doctor told me to be sure to only use internal phones for communication and to avoid even television and radios. We've been completely out of the loop from the rest of the world for days. Now, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Where was Sam when you talked to him last?"

Al glared at him even more intensely, if that was possible, since Jack had been waiting for him outside the Imaging Chamber after that last visit to Sam. "You know exactly where he was," the visibly older man said dangerously. "He was in some retired UNIT general's living room. When I came out, you shut down the Imaging Chamber, telling me it was too dangerous to go back in which is a completely bogus claim. Sam may need me and, for some reason only God and you know, you're preventing me from helping him. I'm going to ask one more time and then, Jack Harkness, I'm going to make you tell me or kill you in the process!"

Jack's smiled wickedly. "Won't help your cause a bit." When Al started to move on the head of Project Quantum Leap, Jack held up his hand. "Okay, okay. I was going to tell you now anyway. Project Quantum Leap is now a safe haven, at least for the time being. The rest of the world is under the influence of a megalomaniac who's implementing his plan for total domination of the Earth. Unfortunately, he's on his way to try to take over this complex, which means that we are the last defense for mankind."

"I think you've been reading too many conspiracy theories."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "You know, not all of them are wrong. But that's not important right now, Al. I figure that, even with all the precautions, it's only a matter of time until Harold Saxon gets here and all hell breaks loose... and I'm using the term literally."

"No way the head of the Prometheus Institute could possibly learn about Quantum Leap... unless, of course, you invited him as well! And even if he did know, how would that bring about this apocalyptic prediction you are making?"

"No," Jack said slowly. "I didn't invite him. You may not like that it looks like I've started the Stallion's Gate Institute for Alien Studies but, trust me, you're going to be grateful that I did. Every one of the participants has been handpicked. They're all experts in their fields and crack fighters." When Al looked at him with confusion, he added, "I'm going to try to explain this quickly because I don't know how much time we actually have. You know the Doctor is a Time Lord."

"Yeah? So?"

"So's Harold Saxon. The difference is that the Doctor is on our side. Saxon just wants to have us - meaning all of humanity - enslaved to do his bidding."

"Harold Saxon is an alien?"

"Not just any alien. A Time Lord like the Doctor."

"Oh, great. There's two of them."

"Well, I know you're not a connoisseur of the species but in this case the situation is infinitely worse."

"How?"

"Saxon is pretty close to the Doctor's equal but... he's evil. Really, really evil."

"Thus that bit about him wanting to enslave humanity to do his bidding, right?"

"Right."

"Okay. So there are good aliens and bad aliens."

"Yeah. Basically. There's some in between too, but I don't want to get into a discussion on xeno-political theory."

"As if things could get any more hinky," Al grumbled.

"Oh... they're going to get a lot more hinky." The tall man paused. "You've put those pallets I've been shipping here for the past six months in storage like I asked?"

"No, I tossed them with yesterday's lunch. Of course, I kept them! They're on level four. The space is tighter than a street walker's skirt. What the hell are in those boxes anyway?"

"Guns, ammo, some barrier blocks, and MREs..." As an aside he added, "The good ones..." Then he went back to the list of materials. "Pretty much anything we'll need to survive a siege."

"And who do you think will attack us, Jack?" Al questioned sarcastically.

"The entire force of the US military... for starters."

"You're out of your mind," the Italian stated bluntly.

"I wish I was," Jack responded, equally as blunt. "We're going to need to batten down the hatches completely. You know the history of the Alamo?"

"Yeah, and the Texians got slaughtered."

"Let's just hope we have better luck," Jack said with a grin. "The Master will be just as determined as Santa Anna and even more likely to send his soldiers in waves to overwhelm us... and he's got a much bigger and much better armed force."

"Wait a minute. A moment ago, you were talking about Harold Saxon. Who's the Master?" He didn't have to wait for Jack to answer as he made the connection quickly enough. "The Doctor... the Master... Do all Gallifreyans go by titles instead of names?"

"I'm not sure. Probably. Based on how the Doctor acts sometimes, they can be pretty taken with themselves."

"Says the most narcissistic man I've ever met."

"Yeah... well... I gotta be me," Jack quipped back. "Back to the issue at hand. I don't know how much time we have. We need to make sure the families stay safe but we also need to have them help. They'll need to take care of food, ammo supply, and other non-combatant activities."

"Hold it there, Jack. We're talking civilians here," the Admiral told him firmly. "We can't have civilians in the middle of what you are indicating is going to be a war zone, even in a non-combative situation. Having them help out that way would still allow them to be held as enemy soldiers."

"They need to help. If we don't win this, they will be enslaved."

"The Thirteenth Amendment..."

"Doesn't mean a thing right now, Al. The Master has taken over all the governments of the world, if not directly then indirectly. Anyone under the Pi influence will do anything he asks." He paused. "Which means that we're going to have to take down anyone who's sent against us, even if they are US military."

"Pi? As in the satellite network?" Al queried. A somber look came to his face. "So, Sam and the Doctor aren't just being paranoid."

"No." Jack took a breath. "This isn't the first time I've been through this series of events. The last time, Sam was an immediate casualty and I doubt you were far behind. Once the Master wins, even the Doctor won't be able to defeat him."

The retired military man stared at Jack for a long moment, stunned by what he had just told him. If what he was hearing was correct, Jack was acting as if he were a leaper, trying to put right what once went wrong - and Sam being killed would be a definite wrong. He didn't mind dying for a good cause, but Sam? "Are you a leaper, Jack?" he questioned, his frown growing.

"The last time I was at this juncture, you'd pretty much given up the project to Saxon. I had to use the Accelerator to try to change what had happened. Ergo the warehouse and the Institute of Alien Studies."

"I would never give up the project, Jack," the Admiral protested. "Never."

"You couldn't help yourself. Like I said, anyone under Pi influence will do anything the Master wants. It has nothing to do with a person's character." He noticed Al's stance relaxing slightly at his words. "You've seen what I'm talking about."

"Yeah," Al admitted. "My oldest granddaughter. She acted a little... odd when I greeted her. She's fine now but... she seemed obsessed with Harold Saxon. Figured she had a crush on him. You know kids, these days. If a guy's good-looking, the girls are all over him."

"Everyone is like that, Al. That's why I didn't allow the Imaging Chamber to be used. That much energy use in the middle of New Mexico is bound to draw attention to us. Having it shut off gave us a little time to get off the grid but they will find us, Al, and when they do..."

The visibly older man rubbed his face with his hand. "I went to war to keep war from coming to Beth and now I can't keep her out of it." He exhaled slowly. "Well, if we are going to do this, then we'd better start organizing. With your Torchwood team and all the military we have in house... and staff and our families, we have maybe seven hundred people."

"Like I said. The Alamo. We have to give the Doctor, Sam, and the rest as much time as possible."

"What do you mean time? Time for what?"

"Six months before us, they'll be mounting a battle to prevent any of this from happening. That's why Sam's there. That's why he and the Doctor have been together for nearly three months. They had to learn to trust each other completely."

"And it took them three months to do that?"

"If you really knew the Doctor, you'd understand that."

"Did it take you three months to start trusting the Doctor?"

"It's more the other way around. The Doctor generally is rather sure of himself. He wouldn't be ready to make the type of changes to the timeline which Sam does. I get that. Before funding this project, I'd agree with that logic and approach. Now, I see that somehow, in Sam's case, these changes don't cause the type of consequences the Doctor's afraid of. That why the three months were necessary. For the Doctor to learn to respect Sam's experience."

"And so now that he trusts Sam, they can do whatever it is that they have to do to stop this Master from taking over the world." The Admiral took a deep breath. "This is really stretching the limits of believability, Jack."

"When you deal with the Doctor, Al, you get used to it."

"Yeah. So I noticed. And you're right. I'm grateful you've prepared us as you have." He thought for a moment before giving him a shrug. "What the hell. If the world's going to go to hell in a hand basket, it's good to be the last ones to go down."

"That's the spirit. Viva la Quantum Leap."

DWQLTWDWQLTW

 _Outside Project Quantum Leap_

A cloud of dust rolled over the desert landscape, almost blocking out any and all visibility behind it. In front of the cloud - and the cause of the flying particles of dirt and rocks - was a small caravan of vehicles led by an innocuous black limousine which stopped at Stallion's Gate. In the back seat of the limousine, the Master and Peri were busy entertaining each other, hardly noticing the world around them when the partition that separated them from the front lowered.

"Sir, there seems to be a bit of a problem," Reggie told them, turning from the passenger's side of the front compartment. He ignored how the driver's back stiffened in fear of the Master's possible reaction.

"Problem?" the Master questioned with a sigh. "What problem could there possibly be? Just tell them Harold Saxon has arrived. That should take care of any problem."

"I would, sir, but there is no one at the gate and it appears to be locked."

"Locked? Why?" the Master asked with annoyance.

"I have no idea, sir," Reggie told him. Again, the driver beside him stiffened, certain that this was going to result in someone being severely hurt.

Peri rolled her eyes. "Go find out!" she ordered.

"Of course. I was just about to do so." Reggie turned to the driver. "I expect you'll be able to maintain yourself while I'm away? No need to become a pot of jelly." He got out of the vehicle.

The driver shot a terrified look at Reggie's retreating back and then a quick glance back to the rear of the limousine.

"Boo!" said the Master as the driver let out a strangled scream. He chuckled at the reaction the chauffeur exhibited.

"We don't have time for that right now, dear," Peri gently reprimanded him. "Besides, if you get him too keyed up, he won't be able to drive."

"But it's such fun and, if it wasn't for you, the ride to this desolate place would have been absolutely stifling. You sure I can't destroy New Mexico?"

"Harry... two words. Santa Fe."

"Right." He sighed. "What if I just left Santa Fe alone?"

"What about radioactive fallout? And Taos?" Peri pointed out. "It's no fun shopping in a nuclear wasteland, darling."

"You'll let me know if you change your mind?"

"If I change my mind, I'll help you wipe it off the face of the Earth," she assured him. "But not yet."

"Then I'll be patient. Won't be easy for me, but I'll be patient."

"My poor baby," she murmured in sympathy, leaning in and snogging him senseless. Unfortunately, the kiss was interrupted by a knock on the window. Sighing, she rolled it down. "So, what exactly is the hold up, Reggie?" she questioned.

"We appear to be in a dead zone."

"I could have told you that," the Master stated firmly. "Just look around. Nothing but little bushy vegetation and sand for as far as the eye can see. Reminds me of the wastelands of my home planet only the colors are all wrong. Where's the red? Everything is brown and grey. Well, maybe a little tan... and then there's..."

"Dear, you can do a critique of Periland later?" his wife interrupted him gently.

"Periland? You'd name this place Periland?"

"Why not?"

"It really doesn't fit. Unlike this awful place, you are gorgeous," he told her smoothly.

She looked at him with dewy eyes. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Want to show me instead?"

The offer was interrupted by Reggie's clearing his throat to regain their attention.

"Oh, yes. You were explaining the problem," the Master said, slight irritation in his voice for having his near tete-a-tete with his wife halted abruptly.

"Yes, sir," Reggie told him. "What I meant is this spot is a Pi dead zone. A small fact that Senator Weitzman didn't mention when he gave you the directions to the facility."

"I'll take care of correcting him," Peri stated. "I've been wanting to try out my latest laser knife. It would be nice to cut the pompous fool down to size."

The Master blinked. "There shouldn't be any Pi dead zones. The system is perfectly spherical."

"Yes, sir. Of course, it is."

"Are you doubting me, Reginald?"

"Never, sir," the assistant assured him. "I am wondering what it is that could possibly cause this area in particular to be immune to Pi's effects. A dead zone is, as you say, an impossibility. Therefore, it must be something else."

"Not in this time period. The Zetalatians don't develop blocking technology for this type of system until the late 42nd century as counted in Earth years. Nobody would know how to build such a system... well, I would, of course."

"Perhaps this Project Quantum Leap somehow got hold of alien technology from the future," Peri suggested. "It's not unheard of. We did find some rather unusual artifacts which you identified as being from a different planet and a different time."

"That's different. This technology isn't just machine based. It draws power from the planet itself. That's why it works as a block." When Reggie and Peri looked to him confused, he continued. "It's like a bubble that takes spherical shape around a particular parameter. The smaller the parameter the stronger the shielding. A continent would be difficult to encapsulate. A metropolis would be somewhat more manageable. A building would be quite easily done but, no matter what the size, such shielding would require significant power. But like I said, they couldn't know about this unless..." He slapped his hand down. "The Doctor. He's in there. I'm sure of it. He's the only other person who would know how to create such a shield!"

"In that case, we had better get in there," Peri said with determination.

The Master grinned at the notion. "Best part of all... We have an army at our call and he has, knowing him, a sonic screwdriver and two or three companions. Tops." His grin slowly dissipated. "Still... something is in there that's... wrong."

Reginald's eyebrow rose. "I haven't heard you use that phrasing since that winter in Wales."

The Time Lord's eyes widened at his assistant's words, suddenly reminded of the circumstances when he'd used that word. "Whatever is in there stopped me from finishing that one _gift_ for my beloved properly!" He turned to Peri. "Remember? I told you I was interrupted from killing that _thing_ properly because I felt something. What I felt is in that complex right now!" He growled slightly. "I want it utterly destroyed." He turned again to Reggie. "Get me the President of the United States. I want soldiers and artillery now. As many as can be logistically provided quickly... to start."

"Very good, Sir. I'll get right on that," Reginald agreed as the smoked window rose again.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 - Timeline 2**

 _Project Quantum Leap_

 _Stallion's Gate, New Mexico_

 _April 5, 2010_

Dawn had crept over the desert as the ragtag militia consisting of seasoned officers and civilians took their positions within the ultra-secret complex. Over the last several hours, they had been preparing themselves for Saxon and his army, which had been slowly growing in size several hundred yards from the complex's entrance. In spite of the Master's ultimatum of surrender or be killed, all in the complex were resolute in holding the makeshift fort even though it was becoming increasingly clear that, no matter how hard they would be fighting, the coming battle would be a losing one; the Master's control over the entire US military other than those few holed up at Project Quantum Leap made the odds rather grim to say the least. It was only Jack's assurance that the fight was absolutely necessary to provide any hope of the Master's ultimate destruction, both now and in the past, that kept morale up.

Over the past few days, Jack and Grace had holed up in his office, determining what the roles would be for the various players. Once the trigger of the Master's army forming in front of their eyes... or at least in front of their cameras... began, the rest of their group was provided with the final command structure. All of the medical personnel were assigned to the infirmary. While the soldiers were setting up battlefronts on the various levels of the complex, the medical officers were setting up the conference rooms off of the infirmary as additional medical wards. As the hour of the forthcoming attack drew near, Grace and Beth, dressed in surgical scrubs, waited for the inevitable incoming casualties that they knew would soon be coming.

"You and Captain Harkness appear to be close," Beth ventured. "How did you meet?"

Grace smiled at her blunt question. "You sure like to get to the point, don't you. Yeah, we're close. And it's a long story." Noticing Beth's nonverbal cues to continue, she found a seat on a stool. "Eleven years ago, I met the Doctor and, after an intense two days, he asked me to go with him and I said no."

"You said no? From what I understand from Jack, anyone would be crazy to turn down such an offer. Al, once he realized who the Doctor was, even made peace... well, relative peace... with the idea that Sam's still traveling with him."

"Believe me, it was tempting," the cardiologist told her. "But, like I said, it was a very intense two days. In that short amount of time, I'd quit my job because I wouldn't cover up what would have been the scientific discovery of the century, namely a man with two hearts. I'd seen a dozen impossible things, was nearly killed twice, was controlled by the Master, was actually killed and brought back to life... After all that had happened, this impossible man from another world asking me to travel with him was just a little too much for me, especially when I wasn't sure who I was anymore. The only thing that I did know was that I was happy with this new person I was becoming. It was only when I realized that I couldn't go back to living an ordinary life that I regretted that decision."

"Living with over the top realities can do that to you." Beth sighed slightly. "The only reason I'm here with Al is because Sam leapt into my life. Twice, I'm told, but only in the second one did he give Al and me the chance to live our lives together."

"He sounds like quite a guy," Grace responded with a smile.

"Yes, he is. And you haven't answered my question about you and Jack."

"In a way, it was the Doctor who brought us together. I went looking for him and Jack came across me because of it. Offered me a job working for him as a medical officer."

"You worked for Jack? At that other project he works with? Al hasn't told me much but he did say that Jack was doing his best to protect Earth from aliens and such. I'm not sure he's not pulling my leg sometimes."

The red-headed physician laughed. "I know what you mean. I didn't quite believe Jack when he offered me the job myself. If it hadn't been for that New Year's Eve, I probably would have thought he were insane for suggesting the Earth needed protecting. But that's what Torchwood does. Well, at least that's what Torchwood Cardiff does. Back then, there were four branches and Jack's branch was the only one not determined to bring back the British Empire. Anyway, I started working as his Chief Medical Officer and... well, it got complicated."

"Anything that involves the Captain seems to get a little complicated."

"This was more than a _little_ complicated. More like catastrophically complicated between co-workers." Seeing the other woman raise an eyebrow, she confirmed, "We were on-again off-again lovers for four years, mostly on-again."

"You and Captain Jack. The man that apparently sees the world as a sexual smorgasbord," Al's wife stated with some disbelief in her voice.

"He isn't all that bad," Grace defended. "He can be relatively monogamous when he finds the right person. You just have to realize that his eyes will wander but it doesn't really mean anything. That is, until it actually does mean something and then you have to defend what is yours. Like I said, it was an on-again, off-again, on-again relationship."

"Are you still..." Beth asked trailing.

"Well... kind of. I mean, with what's going on, it sort of is par for the course with him to get... involved. But I'm not sure that I could remain involved in his world after this. UNIT may seem so militaristic but, compared to Torchwood, it's a hell of a lot safer and less heart-breaking. Besides, he has someone else I know loves him and it seems as if it's serious."

"Hard to believe that Jack's serious about anyone sometimes."

"Like I said, he can be relatively monogamous at times."

"Right now, though, we may not have any time in the future. Seems to me we need to grab for whatever we can at this time." She looked away. "It's what the grandchildren's futures will be that hurts. They'll never know the future they should."

"The Doctor will change it, Beth. I know he will." She paused. "But, given the circumstances... it really is tempting to snatch Jack away for another quickie in the closet. He is... unique in a lot of ways you can't possibly imagine."

"I'm quite happy with Al. Have been for thirty-nine years," Beth said with a smile.

"Wouldn't stop Jack," came the witty response.

"Oh, yes. I know that. The Captain's hit on most everyone here at the Project. I don't know for certain, but I think a few have taken him up on it."

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Before Beth could respond, the doors to the infirmary flew open and a man on a stretcher was brought in, obviously in pain and injured. The battle had begun and there was not more time for chit-chat. Both professional women got to work, patching the man up, knowing there would be many more to come.

DWQLTWDWQLTW

 _Project Quantum Leap_

 _Stallion's Gate, New Mexico_

 _Timeline Two_

 _April 10, 2010_

The last five days had been a Herculean struggle to keep the onslaught of Saxon's army - formerly the United States Armed Forces combined with UNIT- at bay. Jack's plan of defense was the only thing that had kept the military from taking over the complex quickly. He and Al had ensured that the main doors were sealed tightly, slowing Saxon's progress as he had to break through the intricate encoded security locks there. After the main doors, the elevators had been completely shut down and made irreparable, forcing the incoming army to take over the complex one level at a time which limited the number of soldiers that could get onto a level. At each level, they met up with a large group of resistance fighters as well as martial technologies from a multitude of species and time periods, again compliments of Jack and his Torchwood stash. Additionally, the doors were fortified with 75th century style battlements which could hold off the 21st century military for quite awhile even with Saxon's brilliance behind those forces. When a level appeared to be ready to fall, all but a handful of the fighters retreated to the next level down and one of the last ones remaining behind would seal the doors to the next level. Those handful knew they'd be sacrificing their lives one way or the other. They'd either be killed in the line of fire or take their own lives rather than become one of Saxon's zombies.

As the makeshift rebel force fought to hold back the enemy, Al Calavicci couldn't help but compare the whole scenario to the infamous Battle of the Alamo once again. There were heavy casualties happening on both sides but the seven hundred men, women, and children in the Project Quantum Leap complex - any of the adults and older children capable of holding a weapon and firing it - couldn't hold up against Harold Saxon's might; all the children under the age of ten were securely tucked away in the infirmary with Beth and Grace, out of harm's way as best as possible. In fact, Al was rather amazed that the complex hadn't yet been completely overridden, especially since person after person were being carried away to the infirmary, returning for awhile only to eventually lose their personal battle as well. They were out-manned and out-gunned, the only thing keeping them going being the pure determination not to surrender to the Master's new authoritarian rule, all the while hoping that the Doctor would change history before all of them were killed.

As he stood in the corridor, covered with blood and gun soot, Al knew that the moment upon them was, quite literally, their last stand. There were only fifty fighters left, every one of them exhausted beyond reason and fearful of the war machine that was making their way towards them but determined to prevent Saxon from making it to the lowest level of the complex. The ex-military man couldn't blame them for their fears. At the age of seventy-four and being in the best shape any man could dream about being at this point in life, Al was more tired than he had ever thought was humanly possible. He was amazed to find that he was still standing, especially with the wounds he had.

He watched the small group of men and women around him, fighting with every ounce of their being. He noted that Jack appeared to be the only one who didn't seem worn to the bone, though he could see the haunted look all good commanders took on during war. He could have sworn that Jack had been killed earlier in the battle but that, of course, had to have been his imagination getting the better of him. After all, no one could possibly survive a bullet to the brain. Although he was glad he was wrong about Jack, he mourned the lives lost up to this point and prepared to mourn those about to die.

"Last stand," he shouted to his boss, leaning against a wall for support while weapons fire buzzed around them. "For what it's worth... it's been an honor fighting beside you, Captain."

"It's not over yet, Al," Jack answered. "I'm not going to let Saxon win." He called out to the others on the level, all of them fully aware that they were on the verge of yet another retreat. "I need volunteers again to allow the rest of us to fall back including someone to seal the door."

"I'll do it," John Tomaris responded. Tomaris was one of the Marines that had been with Quantum Leap for several years. Another nine men also offered up their sacrifice to provide him cover.

Jack patted the Marine on the shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes. "Thank you. Let's go, people," he said quickly, realizing that their time had run out. He looked to John and the rest. "Sirs," he said with a quick salute.

Most of the men simply nodded at this final recognition of their bravery but Tomaris snapped a salute and took his place by the door. The moment that the group was through the door, he would close and seal it, making sure that the access panel needed to open it was obliterated.

Jack then turned to Al, grabbing his arm as they moved through door and pulled him away from the rest. "I have a favor to ask of you," he told the Admiral.

The visibly older man looked into the Captain's eyes, defeat clearly showing in his own. "What favor? We both know it's practically over, Jack. Think about it. Fifty against a thousand? A million? Even if, by some miracle, we were able to hold them back, the Master has the minds of nearly every person out there. He could just keep sending them in forever. He obviously doesn't give a rat's ass if any of them live or die." He looked at the gun in his hand, noting the way that appendage shook. "I'm not sure I can even fire this thing anymore much less aim straight." He sighed. "What did you want, Jack?"

"I'm not going to let Saxon win," Jack told him firmly. He paused, looking around to be certain no one else could hear. "I've got Ziggy rigged to blow this place so high, it'll make Nagasaki look like a firecracker."

"I hope that's a bit of an over exaggeration. I'm rather fond of Santa Fe, you know," came the desperate attempt at humor in the face of the situation. He heard the sound of Tomaris sealing the door they'd just come though as he looked at the remaining forty, all eyes focused on the closed door while the yells of defiance from their fallen brothers' on the other side filled their ears. Several long seconds later, there was silence, causing the remaining forty to lower their heads, honoring the sacrifice the six men had made.

Jack waited several seconds before taking a deep breath. He called the last of the soldiers together and told them that he'd need them to stay behind as there was only one level behind this and he needed the door sealed. "I'm asking Admiral Calavicci to make the final stand in protecting the children. I've set up a sort of panic room that is heavily shielded and will give the children more time. We all know that this has been a hard fight. We're all tired and I don't think any of us have had anything you could call real sleep or hardly a bite to eat except between firefights. But surrender isn't an option and we need to keep up the fight to allow the children to get to safety. You're doing this for them as well as a final stand for what it means to be human."

"You can count on it, Captain," came a response from one of the remaining officers. He turned to the others. "We're going to make them go through hoops to get through this last door and get to the Control Room." The rest agreed with a shout of defiance.

This time both Al and Jack gave a longer salute, pride in their eyes for the last forty. Turning they went through the last door. The moment that the last security door was closed, Al turned to Jack. "I thought you were going to make this place worse than Nagasaki."

"I am. I had a chamber built two floors down. It's protected with a Kinarian Radiation shield. The strongest in the galaxy. You'll be able to protect the children there. The place is stocked and fully serviceable as a long term shelter. I figure, six months at least."

"Two floors?" the Italian questioned with a frown. "There are no levels below this one."

"What do you think I was doing for the last six months in the southwest corner?"

"Having coffee on your own? I don't know. You do things, Jack, that sometimes don't make any sense in the world. Every time I went over there, I couldn't see what interest you had in that area."

"I put a perception filter over it so no one could see what I was doing. Took a lot of time getting that dirt out using the short-distance teleport I purchased from a certain spaceship captain," the immortal man replied with a grin. "It isn't Club Med down there and it'll be rough living but you'll have plenty of what you need and you'll be safe. I've got directional signs so you'll be able to find it. I also told young Dale about the bunker, telling him to keep it secret; he's good at keeping secrets. He'll inform Beth and Grace when the time comes." He handed him a small handheld device. "This opens and locks the entrance."

"And you didn't think of telling me this until just now?"

"I didn't know until now that we'd absolutely need it. And you can thank the Doctor for the shelter. Well, his sonic screwdriver. Without it, I never would have gotten any of this done in time." He paused. "I wonder if he'll let me keep it."

Al raised an eyebrow at his comment. He knew that Jack tended to say some odd things but being possessive of someone else's property when you were about to do a kamikaze run was definitely one of the oddest things he'd ever heard. "Right," he said, his tone showing just how off the wall he thought his boss was being at that moment.

"I mean, you gotta admit, it's really, really cool."

"Whatever, Jack," came the response. "So, this bunker of yours with the force field... we need to get everyone in it pronto, yeah?"

"Exactly. You'll be safe there, Al. I had Ianto fully stock it while Rose and I were in the Virgin Islands so, by the time you crawl out of there, things should be livable. I can't speak to the environment but the Master wouldn't be darkening your lives." He briefly mourned his dearest friend and sometimes lover as well as the rest of his Torchwood team, all of whom had given their lives in the past five days to try and protect the world from a madman.

"Then let's get them in," Al said with a bit of energy. "We'll get Carlos and Montoya from the infirmary..." They were the only ones who hadn't yet either continued to fight or died from their wounds.

Jack put his hand up. "I wish that were possible, Al. There isn't that much space or provisions. It's got to be a limited number. I'm sorry. You don't know how much."

"So... who's going in, then? Do we draw straws?"

"The children, you, Beth, Grace, Rose, and Dale."

"And that's it," Al realized. "About 30 people, most of them children."

"I'm afraid it's the only way. There just isn't room for more and resources are limited," Jack apologized. A second later, he raised his voice. "Dale! Front and center!" he ordered. A moment later, a thirteen year old teenager who had been kept on the lowest level as a sentry, ran up to the Captain and saluted sloppily, his semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. "Come with us. That special mission I told you about. It's time." Turning towards Al once again, he told him, "Call Beth and have her and Grace meet us at outside the Control Room with the children." As Dale pulled out his walkie talkie to obey the order, Jack glanced towards the sealed door further down the hallway. "We have less than half an hour before Saxon's zombies make it through that last barrier." He started towards the Control Room as he finished issuing his command, Al and Dale following.

Both men and the boy were in the Control Room and were in the process of setting up Jack's final stand when the women came in, escorting twenty-five children, their ages ranging from two to ten, most of them in various stages of fright. The youngest ones just appearing confused.

Grace immediately walked up to Jack, concern on her face. "We passed the barricade on the way here. He's coming, isn't he. The Master." She couldn't hide the trepidation in her voice but kept it low as to not alarm the children any more than they already were.

Jack looked at the children. "Walk with me," he told her. "Al, I'll be right back. You might want to make sure Ziggy's ready."

"This is the most insane hare-brained thing you've ever come up with," Al replied, shaking his head slightly.

"Hare-brained idea?" Grace questioned as Jack pulled her away from the rest of the group. "What hare-brained idea?" She looked into Jack's eyes as they walked, her concern instantly turning into trepidation at what she saw in them. "Jack, what are you up to?"

He sighed. "Going to blow myself up again... but I'm taking the Master with me."

"Blowing the Master up, fine. You, not acceptable," she told him bluntly. "Why would you even consider blowing yourself up, especially with how hard we've all been fighting for the last week?"

"You know it won't last. I'll come back," Jack explained to the first question.

"That's not the point," Grace stated firmly. "Set a trap, sure. But turning yourself inside out with a bomb? Besides, you know he'd never let you get close enough to him for it to be effective. He'd just regenerate and you'd be reliving that nightmare you told me about only it won't be a nightmare this time."

"That's why this was a last resort." He paused. "We needed to give the Doctor time. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's going to be able to pull through on his end after all so... I'm going to make sure the Master can't come back. Me? I will... reconstitute. Time Lords don't work that way, though. He'll be gone and there won't be any way he can come back."

"I told you... he isn't going to let you get that close. What are you going to do, set off a bomb that will destroy the whole complex?"

"The whole complex and most of the White Sands Missile Base. The wave front will probably destroy another 50 miles in all directions."

Her jaw dropped at his words, disbelief on her face. It took a good thirty seconds before she could speak again. "Al's right. Completely and totally insane." She threw her arms up as if realizing something she should have known years ago. "I thought the Master was nuts."

"I'm not insane, Grace. Like I said, I'll be back. The Master won't. That's why I need you to go with Beth and Al."

"Where? To hell in a handbasket? In case you didn't notice, a nuclear-sized explosion that kills you and the Master will likely kill the rest of us."

"Not with a Kinarian Radiation shield. I've got a set of rooms built. I used most of the platinum that I've saved over the last century to pay for it. You'll all be safe, even as close to ground zero as you'll be."

She huffed a false laugh. "I'm not hearing this. I'm not. Because if I'm hearing this then that means you've been planning this way before you called me to get my support against the Master. Hell, you've been planning this for months, haven't you. You didn't recruit me to help you stop the Master and to save lives. You recruited me to be your little search dog!"

"Not entirely, but..."

"Oh, this is so typical of you, Jack Harkness! Using people for your own ends without thinking about whether or not they want to help or how it feels to be used! You son of a bitch!" She slapped him hard across the face, the sound so loud that it brought complete silence to the room despite the distance they had put between them and the children.

Jack reached up to touch his face. "Okay... maybe I deserve that and maybe I don't. Yeah, I've been planning this. According to Ziggy, this is the third fricking time I've been through this. This time, I made sure I was prepared for the psychopath and I'm sure as hell not going to let him win."

"Even if it cost hundreds of lives."

"You don't get it, do you? I didn't want those lives to be lost. That's why this is the last line of defense." He took her shoulder. "Listen, Grace. The fact is, if the Doctor succeeds in the past, we won't even exist here anymore. We'll be on a totally separate timeline. That's what I was hoping for... but it looks like we've run out of time. It's either do this or have the Master enslave all of humanity."

"I get that! I get all of that!" she stated with vehemence. "It's just..." She ran her hand through her hair, appearing to think. "This is all too much too quickly, all right? I came here to fight, not to dig you out of a radioactive grave, assuming that the area is going to be radioactive." She took a slow breath. "You know the Doctor would never approve of this."

"No. He wouldn't. He knows I'm here trying to stop the Master... but he didn't know about the bomb. I'm not going to let the Master win and if this is the only way to do it, then so be it."

"All those innocent people, Jack..." she started, tears in her eyes. "There have already been too many deaths." She licked her lips, shaking away the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. "Fine. You want to take on the Master? I'm doing it with you."

"No, you aren't. Like I said, the search and rescue was only one part of this. There's another more important reason I looked you up."

"You needed a cardiologist?" she asked sarcastically.

"I need a leader who can help me lead the resistance. Even if the Master's gone, his zombies won't allow his death to go unpunished. With the world in disarray, there's also going to be a whole shift in the balance of power and I don't know who's going to be fighting who. Without a doubt, there will be massive civil wars. Someone will have to take the lead in uniting humanity and I can't do it alone. Al's too old to take that on that role. You've got UNIT experience and now, you're the only Torchwood operative alive." When he saw the surprise on her face, he continued. "Yes, I said operative. You can leave Torchwood, but you never really get out."

"Is that why you never Retconned me?" she questioned, hoping that her assumption was false. "So you could pull me back in any time you felt like it?"

"I never Retconned you because I didn't want you to forget this." He suddenly pulled her into his arms, kissing her like it was their last... which, until he reconstituted and was recovered, it was.

Grace instantly melted in his arms the moment his lips touched hers, her hands slowly reaching up to cradle the back of his head. After a long moment, Jack pulled away, allowing her the chance to get a breath. She looked into his blue eyes and sighed, a small smile of appreciation on her face. "I hate you, you know," she told him without malice. "You're the only man I know who can change my mind with a kiss."

"I seem to bring that out in all my lovers," Jack said with a slightly wry grin. "Now... we don't have much time and you all need to be in the bunker before I set this off."

"Right," she acknowledged softly, turning to return to the group on the other side of the room. She stopped for a moment, hesitating before turning back to Jack. "I lied, Jack. About hating you, I mean."

"I know," he responded, giving her a wink. "See you later, Dr. Holloway. About six months or so I expect."

"You better be right about this, Jack, or I'll never forgive you," she warned before rejoining the rest of the refugees.

"There'll be enough of that to go around," Jack said to himself, watching her walk away. At the same time, he noticed Al approaching him.

"You sure about this?" the Italian asked, a last ditch effort to get Jack to change his mind. "I'm sure there's room for one more in that bunker of yours."

"That's not the point, Al. The point is someone has to make sure that the Master is standing at ground zero when the detonation goes off. That's the only way to be certain he's gone for good."

"Captain Harkness is correct in his assessment of the situation, Admiral," a feminine voice filled the room. "However, I would remind both you and the Captain that you are forgetting someone."

Jack looked confused and then the knowledge dawned like the morning sun. "Rose!" He smiled. "Thanks, darling. Nice to know you have our back."

"Always, Captain," came the sultry reply. "Unfortunately, taking Miss Tyler from the Waiting Room will mean that Dr. Beckett will never be able to return. Both he and Miss Tyler will be trapped in their current respective time periods."

"Better that than have Rose turned into sub-atomic particles. Do you have any idea of what the Doctor would do to me if that happened?"

"Based on my analysis of the extraterrestrial life form you call the Doctor... no. He is far too unstable to make a reasonable prediction of his actions."

"Only if you don't know him. I can guarantee it wouldn't be a pretty picture."

"Well, it's a good thing you won't be around to see that particular reaction... at least I assume that the fact the aura's will be switched will be equally as troublesome to him," Al commented.

Jack knew that Al didn't know that he'd survive this. "Maybe you're right. Time will tell." He started towards the Waiting Room. "Boy, I'm going to get it for leaving Rose to the last minute. I can feel my ears burning already," he commented as he opened the door and walked in to get Rose, Al following him in and Grace waiting outside.

"'Bout time!" Rose complained, standing from the bed she was sitting on. "Did you stop him? The Master?"

"Not yet. But we will. That's why you need to go with Al. Can't have you at ground zero."

"Ground zero?" she questioned. "As in 'boom?'" Seeing Jack nod, she slumped physically. "The Doctor failed. I can't believe it."

"There's still a chance, Rose. But I can't count on it. I'm taking the Master out the only way I know how."

"I'll never see him again," she continued, obviously upset with the turn of events. "And I'll look like Sam Beckett for the rest of my life! I can't look like a man for the rest of my life! What am I going to do? How..." She suddenly went silent, the aura's face instantly blank and her body started to fall to the floor.

"What the hell?" Jack questioned as he reached out to catch his friend. With everything happening, he just didn't need another distraction. "Grace!" he called, hoping she would have the solution to this new difficulty.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 - Timeline 2**

 _Amazon rainforest_

 _April 10, 2010_

Sam walked into the console room with a book in hand. "Doctor, I believe I've found what we need to produce a potent sleeping drug that should render the Master unconscious almost instantly."

"Wonderful," the Gallifreyan answered, almost immediately looking confused. He looked at the other man as if he'd grown two heads.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No... no... well... maybe... no... Well... yes, I think so."

Hearing the strange answer, the physicist's head tilted. "Are you well?"

"I'm not sure," the Doctor murmured, still staring at him. "I could have sworn..."

"What?"

"Well... I could have sworn that a minute ago you were a twenty-three year old blonde - well, nearly twenty-three year old blonde woman named Rose Tyler."

"No. I just look like her," Sam said drily. "I thought you could see both of us."

"I can. But for a minute there, I could only see her."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Okay... I know you've been missing her a lot since I leapt in but I promised we'll switch as soon as I complete whatever the hell I'm supposed to fix."

"No no no. I mean literally, not in a fit of homesickness. For a minute, she was..." He stopped abruptly, realization on his face. "She was here. In another time. Rose returned... because you had... Oh, boy," he exhaled, clearly disturbed by the thought.

"I'd fixed what I was supposed to fix? Can you tell me what I did? Maybe I could do it again and you'd have her back."

"Samuel... Rose returned in that other timeline because the Master had pulled you out of her. Forcibly."

Sam blinked. "Like in Glad's nightmare?"

"Exactly like in Glad's nightmare. In another timeline, it happened. You died."

"Oh, boy. It was prophetic."

"But only in that timeline, Samuel. Time changed which prevented the Master from pulling you out of Rose." He smiled manically. "Which means Jack's done it. He's stopped the Master from taking Project Quantum Leap."

"Huh?"

"Well, it stands to reason, doesn't it? If you're here instead of Rose, then obviously Jack must have done something to prevent your death, since he is the only one in the future who is able to make that kind of a significant impact on history for the better, namely preventing the Master from taking over your project and just also preventing your death."

"You're saying something he did in the future changed the past. That's a switch."

"Wibbly wobbly timey whimey," the Time Lord offered as an explanation.

"Right." He thought about it for a moment. "Well... there was one time something like that happened and I got Al back."

The Gallifreyan smiled at his words before returning to the reason Sam had come into the console room in the first place. "So... what did you find?"

"A cigar butt."

The Doctor frowned. "That's impossible. I don't smoke. None of my companions smoked... Hold on... Did you catch Glad smoking cigars?"

"Huh?" Sam said confused. "I don't mean now. I mean when I found that cigar butt in Al's car. Proved he wasn't guilty and he didn't go to the gas chamber."

The Time Lord blinked. He didn't know how Al Calavicci could have been a candidate for public execution and he wasn't sure he wanted to know - probably had to do with some lover's spat - but the conversation was definitely getting away from the subject he had tried to get it back onto. "Okay... How does any of this have to do with immobilizing the Master long enough to get him secured in the TARDIS?"

"Oh. It doesn't but this book has something that I think will work in tangent with the extract we took of that purple flower." Sam showed him the Gallifreyan pharmacopeia. "An extract of the active ingredient in blansmartken leaves mixed with the one from the flower should produce a mixture that, when aerosolized, would send the Master into dreamland without hurting him."

The Time Lord took the book from Sam and glanced over the referenced entry. He had long ago learned that Sam had a gift for language, proven when he was able to figure out how to read Old High Gallifreyan. The fact that the accomplished linguist couldn't actually pronounce it was entirely due to the human not having a Gallifreyan larynx. "This could work," he finally agreed with a nod. "You'd have to be extremely careful with the portions, however."

Sam scratched the back of his neck and looked a little uncomfortable. "Yeah... I know that. But I think I have a pretty good idea about Gallifreyan dosing with the blansmartken concentrate."

"You do? How?" the Doctor questioned with a frown of curiosity.

"You know how you've been sleeping better of late?"

"Yeah..." Sudden realization came to his face. "No. You didn't." Seeing the admission of guilt in Sam's eyes as well as the uncomfortable body language he was displaying, he stood abruptly. "You did! You've been drugging me!"

"You wouldn't have wanted to use this untested and, if I'd told you, you wouldn't have agreed to use yourself as a guinea pig."

"Have you ever heard of informed consent? You didn't even ask! How would you know whether or not I would have volunteered to test your little concoctions, hmm?"

"Because when I started to ask four months ago by implying I might be able to help with your insomnia, you just about took my head off."

"Of course, I nearly took your head off! I hadn't had enough sleep! I was cranky and ill-tempered and... Oh," he finished, his anger dwindling as he understood exactly why this had happened. "Right."

"Well... that's why Glad and I decided I should put a little in your food. Just a bit at first and then increasing the dosage. After what happened last night, I figured that maybe it was time to come clean."

"Last night?"

"Yeah...the dose I gave you hardly did anything? I think you've developed a tolerance and I wanted your input on actually using it on the Mast..." Suddenly Sam blinked. "Oh, boy," he exclaimed once more before his face blanked.

The Doctor looked up at the physicist's words just as he felt time ripple once again. Seeing the expression of surprise on the leaper's face smoothing into Rose's gentle visage, he stood up and took her in his arms before she could have the chance to collapse from the exchange. "Easy," he told her, guiding her to the Captain's chair.

She looked around, confused for a moment. Then her eyes flew open. "I'm in the TARDIS! Oh, Doctor, I've so missed you!" she said jumping up almost as soon as he'd moved her to the chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

Suddenly, although he knew it had never happened in this timeline, he remembered everything that had happened with Rose in the previous six months in the previous timeline. Feeling her arms around him, he couldn't help think about the little 'picnic' that Glad and Maggie had set up under the blansmartken tree in a locked garden. "I've missed you as well. More than you could possibly know," he murmured against her hair. It seemed like an eternity since he smelled that unique fragrance that was exclusively Rose Tyler. "I love..." He stopped suddenly, unsure about whether it would be wise to articulate the thoughts running through his mind.

Rose pulled back from him a bit, enough to see his face, which seemed torn somehow. "Doctor?"

"I love having you back," he finished. "Sam was an interesting fellow but he can't compare to my Rose." He gave her a winning grin that indicated just how happy he was to see her.

"Well, I have to admit, I've been a bit jealous of his being with you instead of me. Although I have to admit some parts of the experience we're fun... like when I went to the Virgin Islands with Jack."

"You went to the Virgin Islands with Jack Harkness?" he exclaimed, his smile disappearing.

"Yeah. We had a great time." She giggled at a thought before voicing it. "We went to this gay night club. He made me wear a disguise and everything. He said he didn't want Al to read him the riot act again, whatever that means. Anyway, we danced..."

"You danced?!" the Doctor repeated, his eyes wide. They immediately turned into a frown of suspicion. "You didn't... _dance_ dance... Did you?"

"I danced all night," she said with her tongue between her teeth, slightly to the side, teasing him slightly.

"I'm going to kill him," he murmured under his breath.

"Oh, Doctor. It wasn't like that. Jack was a perfect gentleman. Well, he was as perfect as Jack gets. He just didn't want to keep me cooped up in the Project and..." Her face paled as she trailed off. "The Project. Jack's going to blow it up with a nuclear bomb."

"A what?!" the Gallifreyan shouted, immediately forgetting his jealousy concerning the immortal man in favor of indignation.

"He said he's going to make sure that the Master doesn't win this time around. That if there's even a chance of setting things right again, you have to have time to take care of things in the past."

The Doctor started to pace, his mind racing as he thought about the implications of what Rose told him. He could already feel time starting to unravel on the small scale, allowing him to fit the final pieces of his analysis into place. "Oh, you stupid, _stupid_ ape!"

Rose looked at the Time Lord, shocked at his words. "What?"

"He's completely forgetting about the Pi Network."

"He said that once Dr. Holloway digs him out in about six months, he's going to take care of that then."

"Grace?! He got Grace involved in this?"

"Yeah. Apparently they both worked together at Torchwood awhile back, which is why he brought her on. She would know how to look for him when he comes back. He told me what happens to him while we were in the Virgin Islands. Sounded pretty weird to me but Grace says it's true."

He rubbed his hand over his mouth. "Rose, Jack isn't _going_ to come back! He isn't going to reconstitute."

"Sure he is. He always does. He says it usually hurts like a sonofabitch but he always comes back."

"Pi Network! The Master may be killed but his network will still be in place. His followers will start a holy war against anyone who thought Harold Saxon was a bad person. And even if Grace is able to fix that by taking down the Pi Network, the world will fall into World War Three, Four, Five, ad nauseum. And if the Earth starts into ad nauseum world wars, the technology that caused mankind to go into space to make colonies on other planets won't exist which means..."

DWQLTWDWQLTW

 _Project Quantum Leap_

 _Stallion's Gate, New Mexico_

 _April 10, 2010_

Grace rushed in as Jack held the aura of Sam Beckett. Suddenly the body became animated again. The eyes blinked, confusion clearly expressed there. "Wha... Where?" He looked at obviously concerned man holding him rather closely. "Do you mind? Let me go. Now."

Jack blinked as Rose stated, "This is the Waiting Room! I'm in the Waiting Room!" A laugh of utter joy erupted. "He did it! The Doctor did it!"

"Rose?" Jack asked, confused.

The aura looked at Jack questioning. "Wait a minute. Who are you?" The sight of someone over Jack's shoulder resulted in a cry of elation. "Al!" Another laugh of happiness escaped as the Italian was swept up into a bear hug. "This is great! Brilliant, in fact! _Molto bene!_ "

Al was too shocked to feel the pain that Sam's hug should have elicited. "S... Sam?" Al questioned with wide eyes.

"Sam?" Jack also questioned. He looked confused tilting his head at the physicist who had returned unharmed to Project Quantum Leap. He suddenly smiled. "This is going to work."

Al looked at Jack as if he was nuts. "Jack? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing, Al. Nothing. Sam's back. Isn't that great?" Mentally, he felt a surge of confidence. If Sam returned, that meant that this final act of destroying the project would reset the timeline he'd lived for the past six months and should give the Doctor the time he needed to defeat the Master in the past. _It's up to you now, Doctor_ , he thought.

"Of course, it's great. He's finally home. And he's speaking Italian!" Al paused. "Wait... you can't speak Italian. Where'd this _molto bene_ come from?"

" _Molto bene_?" Jack said, recognizing one of the Doctor's signature phrases. "Next thing you're going to be telling everyone is _Allons-y_."

"That's French for 'let's go,' isn't it?" Sam questioned.

"Yes... but that's not the point. It appears you've picked up some idioms," he said, realizing what had just happened.

There was a ponderous look on the Sam's face. "I did? From whom?" It was clear that the leaper was still suffering from gaps in his memory.

"Apparently from that wacko alien you've been living with for the past two months," Al replied, his smile as broad as a barn door. "I don't care if you talk a million miles an hour about absolutely nothing at all. I'm just glad you're back." He paused, hesitating for a minute. "It is you, isn't it, Sam?"

Even though Jack understood exactly what had just happened, he decided he should play it vague for now. "For whatever reason, it appears that Dr. Beckett is back with us... which would indicate that Rose is back in her aura and likely with the Doctor. At least I dodged that bullet. I guess they're still in the Amazon looking for a sedative for the Master."

"I don't know about any bullets, but... but... I'm home. I'm home!" Suddenly he noticed Al was obviously injured, wounds patched up with gauze. "What the hell's going on here? What happened to you, Al?"

"Hello, Father. It is good that you are home. However, I'm afraid that answers to your questions will have to come at another time." The computer paused, redirecting her voice. "Admiral, the secondary barrier on this level is about to be breached. I estimate you have ten minutes to evacuate to the shelter."

Jack spoke up. "Okay. All of you. Into the bunker now. You can hold your Old Home Week reunions there."

"Bunker?" Sam questioned, confused. "What bunker? What's going on?"

Al grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him out of the Waiting Room quickly. "I'm elated that you're home but, long story short, Project Quantum Leap is about to go boom."

"Boom?"

"Yeah... like I told you that one time before... big bang... fire... smoke..." He paused for a long moment. "Radiation..." He paused for a second time. "A lot of radiation."

"Oh," Sam answered, chastised. "But why...?"

"No time to discuss it, Sam. Just... Go," Jack ordered pointing to the door at the other end of the Control Room.

"Wait a minute... I want to know what's going on before I allow anyone to blow up _my_ project," Sam addressed Jack as he resisted Al's pull on his arm. "Who the hell do you think you are anyway?" He turned to Al with a querulous expression. "Who is he?"

"I'm the one that kept your project going while you were gallivanting through time," Jack told him bluntly. "And I also own the property free and clear so get your nicely shaped ass down in the bunker or I'll have Grace sedate you and Al can drag you there." He turned to Dale. "Take Dr. Calavicci and the children down to the bunker, now. Just follow the signs I put up. The rest will follow in a minute."

Beth looked to Al who nodded. "I'll be there in a minute Beth. We need to get the children there." She gave her husband a kiss and then she and the boy shepherded the children out of the area as requested.

Sam was still not buying this scenario, confusion and anger on his face. "You can't..."

"I'll explain it all in the bunker, Sam," Al assured. "Believe me, once you understand the reasons, you'll be glad we dragged your butt into the bunker and that we blew the project."

"But... Ziggy..."

The computer responded, "Totally agrees with Captain Harkness' plan. World domination by an extraterrestrial psychopath is not a world any of you would want to live in. Please, Father. It is my choice."

"Your choice," Sam said, blinking rapidly. If Ziggy was making choices then she was more than a computer. Not near what that... that... blue box that he couldn't quite remember was... but... His voice was full of emotion. "I can't let you Ziggy."

"The world needs you, Sam. Someone's got to help take down that damned Pi Network," Jack stated. He nodded to Grace who had been pushing buttons on some handheld device. Putting it up to Sam's neck, she pushed a button. Sam immediately went semi limp, Jack catching him. "Get him in the bunker," he said to the two remaining fully conscious adults.

"This better work, Jack," Al said, helping Grace carry Sam's mostly dead weight. "I'd hate to think your sacrifice was for nothing."

"It will work, Al. Thanks."

The retired Admiral gave the ex-Time Agent a nod of respect and gratitude just as he and Grace turned a corner and went out of Jack's sight.

As they exited the area, Jack told Ziggy to begin implementing their plan. Immediately a door slid into place, effectively hiding the corridor to the bunker. That would assure that the survivors would have enough time to get secured in their lifeboat. "Okay, old girl. Time to make sure that the world isn't lost to the greatest psychotic megalomaniac the universe has ever seen."

As he started to leave the waiting room planning to get his coat out of the closet, he suddenly felt strange. "Oh, boy," he said as the world around him faded.

DWQLTWDWQLTW

As Jack Harkness came to his senses, he looked around to find himself in the Waiting Room. Frowning in confusion, he slowly started towards the exit. Wasn't he just in the Australian Outback with the Doctor? What was he doing back at Project Quantum Leap? Raising his hand, he easily opened the door to allow himself to exit and walked down into the Control Room to find it eerily empty except for some really odd wiring running over the floor.

"Where the hell is everybody?" he questioned aloud.

"Captain Harkness. It is good to have you back," the silken tones of the project's computer voiced.

"Ziggy?" he queried. "What's going on here? Where's Gooshie and Al... and everybody else?"

"Dr. Gushman is deceased. The Admiral is in a prepared bunker with twenty-six children, his wife, Dr. Grace Holloway, and my creator," she counted off the survivors almost clinically.

"What?!" Jack questioned in confusion.

"Dr. Gushman is deceased. The Admiral..." she began to repeat.

"I heard you the last time," he interrupted. "I just don't understand how or what or why any of that happened."

"Apparently, with the radium ring set in destruct mode, there has been code triggered which assures that there are no leaper/leapee pairs switched in time. Since the Jack Harkness that has prepared the project for battle against extreme odds and built the bunker was technically a leaper, the coding initiates a search for the matching leapee. However the previous leapee would only exist if the Master actually took over the project. As such, the only other Jack Harkness in existence that could be found was you. It appears you have switched places which sets up an interesting paradox."

"So, basically, I was sent by the Doctor to stop the Master in the future, failed and leaped into myself to do it again only with planning it through the second time and then something in the coding caused me to leap again?"

"Not exactly. You did initially fail and you leapt into yourself to prevent that. That ultimately led to the five days of battle in which everyone, except those in the bunker and yourself, were killed. Then, moments ago you... unleapt." When Jack still looked confused, she continued. "The coding was to assure that in the case of a radium ring failure... which I've initiated... there were no outstanding leaper/leapee pairs out of their own time," she reiterated. "That is why my father has returned and Rose Tyler is back in her aura within this timeline. The only Jack Harkness the coding would recognize was the point of reference for the initial leap. You are a fixed point, though, so you can exist across timelines, unlike my father and Rose Tyler. While my father may still be leaping in another timeline, you are now here and the Jack Harkness that led the Battle of Quantum Leap is now back in Australia."

"Which basically means that the planning that he did, I didn't do so..." Jack commented with a growl. "I don't have a clue what is going on!"

"You do not need to know. Your other self has already taken care of that. All you will need to do is make sure the Master is in the right place when I complete the failure cycle of the radium ring which will, in turn, detonate a nuclear bomb."

He blinked, a stunned expression on his face. "Did you say... nuclear bomb?"

"Yes. Your hearing has certainly not been damaged by your recent activities."

"Who's hare-brained idea was this? No. Wait. You already said. Mine." He sighed. "Why are we going to detonate a nuclear bomb?"

"That is the only way to assure that the Master does not succeed in taking over Project Quantum Leap. From what you had said before you were returned to your point of origin, that would not be an acceptable endgame as it would mean my father would die."

He exhaled slowly. "No, it wouldn't." He paused. "You said that Sam could still be leaping in another timeline. If I understand that, it means that that where I just came from, Sam could still be helping the Doctor."

"Yes. In this timeline, my creator has finally returned to the project. I have performed my role and now he is safe. The world we currently exist in is not acceptable and the previous Captain Harkness assured me the only way to obtain an acceptable world is to destroy the Master and myself in the process thereby preventing my father from being murdered by being pulled out of time by the Master and thus resetting all timelines into a singular one." She paused. "You will remember me, won't you?"

"Remember you?" he questioned, a cocky smile on his lips. "Darling, you're completely unforgettable. Okay... so as long as I prevent the Master from taking over, Sam in the other timeline lives to fight with the Doctor." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Definitely wibbly wobbly timey whimey. So, how long until everything goes boom?"

"That fully depends on when the Master is at ground zero which I estimate will be in one minute, twenty-one seconds, and counting... assuming that the Master and his entourage continue at the same rate of speed they are currently exhibiting."

"One minute, twenty-one seconds," Jack repeated. "Doesn't give me much time." He thought for a moment. "Please, tell me that someone is planning on digging me out eventually. I'm not absolutely sure that I will survive a nuclear blast but, based on previous experiences, I'd say it's a pretty good chance that I will and that I'll come back under five tons of radioactive earth, rock, and remains of the project."

"Dr. Holloway has indicated she will coordinate rescue efforts once the area is relatively safe for doing so, Captain."

"Grace is here?' he questioned, finally realizing what Ziggy had said before. Getting an annoyed affirmative answer, he shrugged. "She'll do it. But that means that I'll be on my own for several months, probably dying multiple times from either radiation poisoning or suffocation. Don't know which is worse. Really looking forward to that," he groused sarcastically.

"Well, as you say, you'll be under radioactive earth, rocks, and the project. Would you really want someone trying to dig you out under those circumstances? A robot, perhaps... but I do not believe under current world conditions that anyone would be willing to help."

"World conditions?" he questioned. He knew he should know the answer to that but, for some reason, it eluded him. _Damned Swiss cheese memory_ , he mentally grumbled. _Or maybe that all happened in the last six months._

"The Pi Network and the almost universal acceptance of the Master and his wife as the supreme rulers of Earth. Even if they no longer live, the Pi Network control will still be enslaving the Earth." She paused. "We're down to forty-five seconds, Captain."

The distinct sound of an approaching force echoed down the hall and into the Control Room. In addition, there were indistinct voices reaching his ears.

"No other survivors except in that bunker? I'm assuming it has a Kinarian Radiation shield around it?" Getting an affirmative answer, he paused thoughtfully. "Just a question. Why don't we set off the bomb before he gets here? I doubt he'd survive regardless of where in the complex he is."

"The previous Captain Harkness explained that a visual and verbal confirmation that the Master is, indeed, at ground zero is the best way to assure that he does not survive. The Master has unique resources that we must prepare ourselves against."

"In other words, he's sneaky."

"I believe that is what I said." Once more she added to the countdown. "Fifteen seconds... fourteen... thirteen..."

"Where's my coat?" Jack suddenly and, almost frantically, asked.

"Ten... Your previous self left it in the closet to your right... eight."

Jack quickly ran to the closet to retrieve the precious article of clothing, slipping it on. "I have another in the bunker, right?"

"That is correct. One..." The computer then, in full personality mode, stated quite loudly, "It's show time."

Jack had just finished donning the coat as a male voice intruded on the silence in the room.

"Surrender or be killed," the voice ordered, the demand accentuated with the sound of a gun being cocked.

Jack turned to greet it with a broad smile. Seeing that the man saying the words was wearing Army battle fatigues, he figured this wasn't the Master. He requested slightly under his voice, "Recognition scan, Ziggy. With the Swiss cheesing, I'm not sure I'll get a visual."

"From a general scan, I can ascertain that at least one person in the room is not human," Ziggy informed Jack.

"Not good enough." He stepped forward, smiling broadly and sticking his hand out. "Captain Jack Harkness. Welcome to my project...or what's left of it. I apologize for the mess. And you are?"

The General ignored Jack's greeting. "This complex is now the property of your lord and Master."

"Then I should hand over the keys, as it were, to him... and that would be?" the phishing continued.

"Poor Captain Jack. We won, you lost," came a haughty voice. The owner moved through the ranks, pushing down the guns as he went. He grimaced the moment he reached the front of the group. "Yikes. You really are disgusting, aren't you?" He shivered visibly. "I thought my getting to know the thing that interrupted me in Cardiff and who's been a pain in my side for the last few days would allow me to get over this utter revulsion of you. What the hell are you, Harkness?"

"I'm a fixed point in time. I thought you Time Lords could tell something like that," Jack answered, relatively positive that he'd identified the Master.

"Don't tell me the obvious. I hate it when people tell me the obvious. Then again, I suppose the obvious isn't very obvious to you, is it? I mean, seriously! Did you really think that you could take on the whole world? I own the world! I own every human being on this planet and you hole yourself up in this complex just to spite me? I thought Borusa was insane at the end of his lives for taking on Rassilon but this... well, Captain Harkness, you give a new definition to the term insanity."

"Coming from you that's quite a compliment," Jack stated with a sneer. The action earned him a hit from the butt of one of the Master's guard's guns. "Oww."

"You know..." the Master commented, watching the immortal man recover from the assault. "My Queen and I are really going to enjoy torturing you. Nothing like a man who can't die to keep us entertained through our reign of Earth."

"Sorry to put a downer on your plans, Mr. Saxon, but I have another form of entertainment that I think is more appropriate to this scenario."

"My name is the Master," the Time Lord corrected him with a glare. "And you will obey me."

"Oh... didn't I tell you? Ex-Time Agent. I won't be easy to mentally manipulate... but it doesn't really matter 'cause our little chess game's come to an end." He looked up at the ceiling. "Ziggy? Would you do the honors?"

"Do what honors?" the Master questioned as a female voice started a quiet countdown from ten.

"May I suggest, Mr. Saxon, that you put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye," Jack stated as the numbers went lower and lower.

The Master's face scrunched. "What?"

"Just that this part of New Mexico is about to go bye-bye. Al's going kill me for destroying Sante Fe." Just as Ziggy made it to one, the immortal man smiled. "Checkmate."

The world around them disintegrated into the angry red of a nuclear fission reaction, eradicating one of the greatest experiments in human history along with the one of the greatest madmen of all time and space.

DWQLTWDWQLTW

 _Amazon rainforest_

 _April 10, 2010_

Suddenly a very large time shift occurred, causing the Doctor to step back in a type of shock. He briefly noted that another headache had begun as he regained his composure. "...which means Jack's colony never will exist. There will never be a Time Agency for him to join because they won't exist either. And we will never meet him and he won't be made immortal. And because he isn't immortal, he's been ripped apart by the nuclear bomb he set to destroy the Master."

"Who are you talking about, Doctor?" Rose replied, her face totally innocent of any deceit.

He stared at her for a moment before replying, "Captain Jack Harkness," hoping to see some recognition in her eyes as that would negate everything he'd just expounded.

"Never heard of him. And I told you, it was Mr. Jones that had that idea."

"Mr. Jones? Who's Mr. Jones?"

"He was the Torchwood agent in charge of the Project. Interesting man but hard to get to know. He wasn't at all happy to find out that Sam was with you."

"Why not?"

"Don't you remember? Yvonne Hartmann said that Queen Victoria made you an enemy of the state. That's never been rescinded. When the Battle of Canary Wharf happened and Torchwood fell there, there were other branches that just continued the cause. Ianto Jones was sent to Project Quantum Leap years before by Hartmann to take control."

"So the nuclear bomb was this Mr. Jones' idea," he stated for confirmation. "Jack was never even there and Project Quantum Leap is working towards the advancement of the British Empire."

"Yeah. No one named Jack was there, whoever that is. The Admiral wasn't happy about Torchwood being in charge but he said he needed to keep going for Sam. I think if he had a choice he'd kick the lot of them out. I liked him." She sighed with obvious concern. "I hope Sam was okay when he went back. The Admiral said there'd only be a slim chance that anyone would survive in the old cold war shelter that was still on the base. He was pretty sure that Sam and I would change places after he had Ziggy put the radium ring on destruct but he apologized to me just in case it didn't happen. He obviously was right about the switch."

The Gallifreyan slumped into the Captain's chair, his eyes staring at nothing in particular as the new reality settled into place. "They're dead. They're all dead because this was the only way Jack knew how to kill the Master effectively. Sam, Albert... they're dead... and Jack never existed."

Rose moved closer to the Time Lord, her eyes saddened by his reaction. She replied softly, "But the Master had to be stopped. Mr. Jones was right about that, you know."

"Not like this. Not by killing him and ripping apart time as a result."

"They didn't see any other choice."

Taking a slow breath, he looked into Rose's eyes. "No... I don't suppose that they did." He suddenly realized other changes. They had never met Margaret Hawthorne because Jack had never been there to bring her to the Outback. Grace had never gone to England and joined Torchwood and was now probably either one of Saxon's zombies or would become a part of the Resistance, just as Pelz's had been when his planet turned to planet wide civil war. He wondered if any of his other previous companions were now in the same situation as Grace Holloway. Looking on Rose again, he got a vision of her in green fatigues. It wasn't a sight he wanted to see ever again.

Standing up abruptly he moved around the console rapidly, flipping switches and turning knobs. "I know this great planet. Resort planet. Couple of my friends are there. How about we go stay there for a couple of days and then take Alistair and Doris with us? Glad would like that."

"Who's Glad?"

"Galadriel Thatcher. Wonderful girl. Met her in Camelot. You'll like her." He swallowed tightly, feeling the memory of Jack slipping away. "No," he growled under his breath. "I'm not letting you go."

"I'm not going anywhere, Doctor. Not ever again," Rose stated emphatically.

"But Jack is. Jack's going away. I'm forgetting him."

"The guy I've never met. If he was that good of a friend, you should remember him and, if not, forgetting him could be a blessing."

"It's not a blessing. It's a curse. I don't _want_ to forget him! Don't you understand? Time's changing and it's taking one of my best friends away from me!" He felt tears crawling down his cheeks. As he wiped at them, he looked at his hand. "Look at me. I'm actually crying." He gave a huff of a laugh and then blinked as confusion filled his features. "Must be because I'm so happy to see you again." He gave her one of his signature smiles. "All right, then! Time to get Alistair and Doris. Allons-y!" He pulled a handle that sent the time rotor moving, all thought of anyone named Captain Jack Harkness having totally disappeared from his mind.

 _Okay, we know what you're thinking. That was the weirdest bunch of chapters ever. You're ending the Book like that?! We just wanted you readers to get an idea of what the timelines are like to help explain the Doctor's behavior at the beginning of the next book. Hope we didn't confuse you to the point of dropping our epic story from your perusals._


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